This is no good, I can't go back to sleep. I thought to myself with a quiet sigh as I rolled over and looked up at the tent ceiling. Woke up at 1:20 AM and I'm wide awake. It's times like these that make me dislike my body's wacky schedule. I reluctantly sat up, curious about what I should do now since my body refuses to listen to me. Though, that was quickly decided for me upon hearing Leo speak up out of nowhere.

"...you're not going to say anything at all, Vin? I'll be honest, that's kinda surprising. I expected you to stop me from training this late at night."

"Stopping you right now would be pointless. You're clearly unable to go back to sleep and having you sit there alone with your thoughts won't help the situation, especially in your current state," the archangel commented, his voice sounding more serious than usual. "Just refrain from using any spells. That's the only thing I won't permit, no matter what. Got it?"

"...don't worry, I won't," Leo replied solemnly, lacking the usual upbeat attitude he normally would have.

After that, I heard the sounds of footsteps getting farther away and Vin letting out a sigh. Well, that's worrying. Did he perhaps dream about his past in some way...? With a frown, I hurriedly got up and left the tent, not caring about my hair possibly being a mess. After all, that seemed trivial compared to a traveling companion being down in the dumps. Though, as I got out, the blue-haired male glanced at me, then pointed towards where I assumed the blonde went before I could even say anything.

"If you plan on checking up on Leo, he went over there. If you're wondering why I'm not going after him though..." Vin paused, then let out a defeated sigh and looked away as if unable to bring himself to look at me. "...simply put, I'm no good in emotional situations like these. I understand his feelings but I feel a kind, understanding person like you will manage to reach him better compared to someone like me. A person like me might just make it worse unintentionally, so...I'll have to leave it to you while I keep guard. Sorry..."

Though I was caught off-guard by his admission, I quickly recovered and sent a smile towards him in response. "It's fine, it's fine! We all have our own strengths and weaknesses, so there's nothing to be ashamed about!" I exclaimed, trying my best to reassure him. "Besides, I was planning on talking to him anyways! After all, I'm kinda worried about him..."

"...then go. In his current state, he might do something foolish so time is of the essence," he stated and glanced in the direction where the angel went. "...then again, might not be the best word to use. It's more accurate to say he will."

I couldn't help but frown at that. ...that's definitely worrying. If that's the case, like Vin said, I need to hurry over to him then. Quickly thanking him for the warning, I bid him farewell and ran off towards where he pointed to earlier ago. Eventually, I saw Leo swinging his spear around, his expression so unusually serious that I could tell something was wrong. Without thinking, I loudly called out his name, causing the male to jolt in surprise.

The blonde immediately turned to look at me and then nervously laughed. "O-oh, you're awake? Then again, you have woken up pretty fast before whenever there's people speaking near you, huh? Anyways, did you need anything?"

"Are you...alright? I overheard you talking to Vin earlier and I got worried so..." I said and Leo let out a sigh, then put away his weapon.

"Welp, guess that means hiding it from you will do me no good then, huh? ...then again, I guess talking to someone will probably help a lot more than training my ass off until I'm so tired that I'll knock out."

...isn't that kinda extreme? Resorting to something like that is a little... I thought to myself with a frown. He averted his eyes elsewhere and scratched the back of his head nervously, probably noticing that I looked even more worried when he mentioned that. For some reason, he suddenly sat down on the grass, then patted the spot beside him.

"This will probably be a long talk so you might as well take a seat beside me at this point," Leo explained as he sent me a sad smile. "Admittedly, a part of me was hoping I could keep quiet about what's bothering me until I managed to resolve it myself but I guess that's not happening now."

I walked over to him as he put his hand away and quietly sat beside him. "So...did you happen to dream about your past?" I asked as I tried to get into a comfortable sitting position. "That's the only thing I could imagine bothering you this much..."

"Wow, straight to the point. You're really not messing around, huh?" he commented with a laugh. "...anyways, you're not wrong. I had a nightmare about that incident again."

"Again...?" I repeated as I turned to look at him, frowning. "Has it been haunting you that much...?"

He bit his lip and looked down at his lap, a troubled expression on his face. "...yeah. To be honest, it's been haunting me ever since I arrived in Heaven, you know?" Leo admitted. "Ever since that revelation during that monster battle, I couldn't help but feel a strong sense of guilt. Thoughts like 'if I left the village, maybe they would've been spared' and 'I'm the reason they all died' popped up a lot. However, I also know that they didn't blame me for what happened. The ones that noticed what I noticed during that battle said some things to me before they died....but..."

"That wasn't enough to stop you from feeling guilty?" I said and he nodded his head, causing my frown to deepen.

"Even if they don't blame me for it and told me that there's no way any of us would've known this would happen, I still felt responsible for what happened. I knew none of them would want me to feel that way but...it didn't change the fact that I caused their deaths. ...and that I wasn't strong enough to protect them," the blonde lamented as he clenched his hand into a fist. "Because of that, when I got to Heaven, I trained as much as I can and signed up to be a guide for any newcomers to do some good to balance out what I caused. ...yet, it didn't feel like I was doing enough."

"Is that why you decided to save the world and go on this journey with me and Vin? I remember you mentioning something about that when you were in the station with us."

He looked at me in surprise, then suddenly grinned at me. "Man, are you remembering everything I say? That kinda makes me happy, you know? Though..." Leo pauses and his smile turns into a sad one. "I don't feel like I really deserve it. ...but yes, it's as you said. I thought to myself that if I manage to save the world with you guys, I'll finally be able to forgive myself and move on, like how the others would want me to."

...to forgive oneself, huh? I glanced at the glowing nocturnal flower in front of me and crossed my arms over my chest, deep in thought. He chose quite the daunting task to achieve that. Yet, for him, I guess that's indisputably the best way to do some good, all the while achieving his wish of being an adventurer. It's like a light in the darkness. ...but... I turned my attention back to the blonde, who happened to be quietly waiting for me.

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"If that's what you believe, I won't stop you. However, I'm going to keep an eye on you and make sure you don't become a martyr in the process. You seem reasonable enough that I doubt you'll go that far but just in case you suddenly lose your reasoning."

"Fair enough. I see no issues with that," Leo replied, smiling. "In fact, it's kinda reassuring to know that you'll be looking out for me. ...though, admittedly, I hope that day of you having to stop me from sacrificing myself won't ever come."

"Same. Something really bad would have to happen for you to get like that, I assume..." I commented as I let out a sigh. "Though, since we're having this talk, there's something I've been curious about. Have you ever seen anyone from your hometown in Heaven...?"

He remained quiet for a bit before he finally replied, as if he was thinking hard about it. "Unfortunately, not yet. Heaven is quite the huge place and there's a lot of people so finding them will take a long while, especially since I didn't have access to the directory of where people are," the angel explained. "...it's probably for the best, though. After all, even if I found them, I wouldn't even be able to bring myself to approach them since I still haven't forgiven myself for what happened."

...and there's nothing I can say to help him regarding that. I thought with a frown. I can't even deny his logic either, sadly. The best I can do is just let him talk away about his issues and look out for him... Though, before I could think any further, I felt someone suddenly nudge me from the side. Yanked away from my train of thought, I curiously glanced at the angel beside me.

"There's no need to be so concerned. I appreciate you wanting to help but it's ultimately an issue that I'll mostly have to deal with alone, after all," Leo remarked as he pats me on the back. "You're quite the kind person to worry about me like this, though."

"That's because you're a member of this little party, not someone going on a journey all alone. As a comrade-in-arms, it's important to provide support, whether it may be combat assistance or emotional support," I pointed out as I nudged him back. "A combat professor of mine from the Academy told me and my classmates that. Getting along with your teammates and having synergy with them is essential, especially since you'll be fighting alongside each other."

Leo let out a laugh, causing me to pout in response. "Sure, whatever you say. Sounds like you're just making an excuse like you did before in Heaven, to be honest," he retorted as he pulled away his hand from me and grinned at me. "Though, I will admit, you do have a point there. The difference between a bad team and a good team is really noticeable. I've seen some competitive gameplay before so I'm definitely aware of that."

"A-anyways, are you alright now? Did talking it out help any or...?" I asked, painfully aware that my attempt at changing the subject was really obvious.

The blonde smirks at me, clearly giving off the impression he's tempted to tease me further, but for whatever reason, he doesn't. "Well, it certainly did help. It felt like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders to a degree. I'll be honest though, having this kind of talk is not something I do normally. I usually prefer fooling around and keeping the mood lively, you know?"

"Just please don't do it at my expense, okay? I'm no good at dealing with teases..." I admitted, frowning. "Joking around would be more preferable..."

"Heh, really? I'll take note of that, then," the angel replied with a chuckle. "Though, there isn't any other good target for teasing, Stella~. There's Vin but he's quite the serious guy, you know~? Getting an amusing reaction out of him would be pretty tough..."

I hurriedly tried to make an excuse so he would change his target. "But think of the challenge! Wouldn't getting a strong emotional reaction from him be really satisfying?"

He crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes, deep in thought. "Hmm, you do have a point there. That would be quite the achievement..." Leo agreed as he mulled it over.

Before I could say anything in response though, he opened his eyes and glanced at me with a smug smirk plastered on his face. "But that would be too much of a pain so I'd rather target you instead," Leo declared. "Besides, that's what friends do, right?"

"Then I'll have to fight back with some of my own," I grumbled out, pouting. "I refuse to be the only one teased!"

"Oh, you're challenging me? How cute, let's see how you'll fare, then," he commented with a light-hearted chuckle. "I'll show you what a master can do~!"

"...judging from this conversation, I take it that the situation has been resolved?"

Taking both of us by surprise, the two of us immediately turn to look towards where Vin's voice came from. I immediately reeled back in shock upon seeing the archangel standing right in front of us with a lion familiar right beside him. W-when did he get here? I didn't hear his footsteps at all!

I was going to ask him that but Leo beat me to the punch. "Pretty much! I'm in a better mood now so I'm sure I can go to sleep now!" Leo exclaimed happily. "Looks like I just needed someone to talk to!"

"Good to know. I came over because I was concerned but it seems I didn't need to," Vin admitted, catching the two of us off-guard. "I did have faith Stella could handle it but I wanted to make sure."

"Heh, so even the serious Vin can be caring too, huh~?" Leo noted, causing the archangel to frown.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked as he glared at the now nervous blonde, who realized that he may have pressed one of his buttons.

"U-uh...that's..." Leo stammered out and then immediately made a run for it. "Run away!"

I couldn't help but laugh as he ran towards where the camp was while the blue-haired male grumbled to himself, clearly upset. Looks like that tease backfired on the so-called "master", huh~? I thought to myself, amused. ...then immediately frowned upon realizing something. Wait, hold up, doesn't that mean he'll definitely avoid teasing Vin now since it didn't go well and instead go all-out on me?! With a groan, I hung my head in despair.

Vin suddenly spoke up, reminding me that he's still nearby. "Don't worry, I feel you. Though, I'm afraid I can't offer much help with making comebacks."

"It's fine, it's fine! I'm sure I'll be able to make some great ones in the heat of the moment!" I exclaimed, then nervously averted my eyes elsewhere. "...I hope."

"Then let's hope for the best," he replied with a small chuckle. "Anyways, we should get back to camp. We have a long day ahead of us, after all."

I nodded my head and quickly got up. Though, as I walked back to camp with Vin, I decided to plan ahead and try to think of some witty retorts I could say towards Leo, all the while asking Vin his thoughts about said remarks. After all, it doesn't hurt to prepare in advance, right?