We walked out onto the street again after our fruitless search. A cold wind blew past us, making my cheeks turn red. We continued walking through the city streets, but before we could reach the place we've been staying in, we heard a familiar sound of gunshots ringing in the distance.

"Gunshots?! What is going on, he?" I asked in panic.

"Maybe someone has got themselves into trouble," Gustav suggested, sounding concerned.

"Let's check it out."

Together, we hurried towards the source of those sounds. When we arrived at the location, I saw a lot of people on the horses running around and shooting at the townspeople. Some were injured by gunshots or stabbed with swords. One of them collapsed on the ground, bleeding.

"Oh dear, there's so many of them..." I gasped in shock.

I looked at the people that were attacking Sunnyrise. Furthermore, I saw a familiar blue rose sewn on their clothes.

"No way! Aren't they those 'Rose Alliance'?"

One of them turned his head and glared angrily at me. His eyes narrowed dangerously, and he pointed his gun at me.

"Whoa! Watch where you point your weapon!" Gustav aimed at him and shot several times, hitting the man on his chest.

The man fell down on the ground with a loud thud. Blood dripped from his wounds, as he died slowly.

Gustav sighed deeply and shook his head. "Damn, these guys sure have guts. They attacked Sunnyrise without any hesitation. If only the town had more men, then things wouldn't end up like this."

He started reloading his gun.

"Can we do something about this? I mean, if we fight back, maybe we'll be able to stop them."

"Yeah, probably. But what should we use against them? Our pistols aren't strong enough to defeat all of them. And besides, I doubt we'd win anyway since we're outnumbered. We might die in vain fighting them."

I nodded sadly. This wasn't good. My heart sank deep inside my chest. How did this happen...?

"But..."

"Well, fine, if you look at me like that, Moon, I just can't say no. Hahaha, let's fight together, okay?"

A smile appeared on my lips, as a feeling of relief washed over me after hearing Gustav's words.

"Yes! Let's protect Sunnyrise together!"

***

We fought back the enemies, who came charging at us one by one. The Rose Alliance members kept firing their guns at us. At some point, I saw Lana and her family and also another Turkey Shoot participant - Lilith, who were defending the town with all their might. However, they weren't able to fend off all the attackers.

At some point, I was separated from Gustav, who was busy fending off an enemy with his gun.

I was running away from one of the Rose Alliance member when suddenly I heard a gunshot.

"Ahhhhhh!!"

Suddenly, a hand grabbed mine. Someone pulled me behind a wooden fence and covered me with their body.

"Tch, what are you even doing, you idiot! Don't you know how to defend yourself?! Why didn't you run away, you idiot!"

That person yelled angrily at me. Their voice was low and raspy, which made it hard to hear them clearly.

But, I knew that voice.

"Lufas...?"

His face was hidden under the black mask he always wore. That was why I couldn't see his expression properly.

"What are you doing here?!"

"Don't get distracted, you idiot! Focus on fighting back!"

"Oh, I'm sorry..." I looked down from his angry gaze. Then, I saw it. The wound on his left shoulder. A bullet holes.

"Ehh?! You were shot?! No way, was it because of me? You are bleeding..."

I held onto his arm tightly, as I started to panic. Tears were forming in my eyes, as I tried to wipe them away with both hands.

"Focus, you idiot. It's just a scratch. Don't worry. There's nothing wrong with me. I just got shot by some bandits. It's not your fault."

"But... I-I don't want anything bad to happen to you, Lufas!"

It felt like he was hugging me from behind, but there was still space between our bodies. His arms were wrapped around my waist, while his right hand gently stroked along my hair.

Why did he come to save me? Was he worried about me so much? Why was he always saving me in a crisis situation?

Why was I always being saved by others?

I felt so useless. But I also felt warm inside, as if someone was protecting me. No, as Lufas was protecting me. Even though he said a lot of things. He still cared about me a lot, for some reason.

Did I even deserve such treatment? Or was I simply too weak to do something myself?

These questions continued circling in my head.

Then, I remembered in what situation we were currently.

The 'Rose Alliance' was attacking us.

We fought back the enemies, who came charging at us one by one. The Rose Alliance members kept shooting their guns at us.

As both of us stood together, fighting desperately, bullets flew towards us. Finally, the enemies were driven out from town.

Then, I saw Gustav running towards us.

"Moon! Are you alright?! What happened?!"

He quickly jumped over the fence, and then he crouched beside me.

"Gustav, thank goodness you're safe!"

"Are you okay? Your clothes are all dirty!"

"I'm fine. Thank you for worrying about me, Gustav."

But before Gustav could answer, Lufas aimed at him with his bow.

"Don't even dare to come close to him!"

"Huh? And why would I listen to some suspicious masked guy, like you?"

Gustav didn't seem scared at all when he turned to look at Lufas. Instead, he aimed his gun towards Lufas. "You better keep quiet or else I'll blow off that mask of yours!"

Lufas chuckled lightly, as he pulled the string on his bow. "I don't think you are fast enough to pull your trigger in time."

Just as he finished saying those words, he was....

"Stop! Stop! Stop!"

I stood between the two, trying to stop the fight. However, neither of them listened to me. They only glared at each other, waiting for an opening.

"Hey, listen to me! This isn't helping anyone. Let's talk it through," I pleaded desperately.

They stared at each other coldly, as they slowly lowered their weapons. Then, after a brief moment, the tension disappeared from them.

"Oh, sorry about that. It seems I scared you, Moon. That wasn't intentional, I promise."

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

His voice sounded very calm and gentle.

"N-no problem. You just startled me for a second."

"Sigh... I guess I wasn't thinking straight either..."

Lufas looked down, as if embarrassed.

'Lufas?! Embarrassed?!'

That couldn't be possible! Lufas never showed any signs of embarrassment whatsoever!

So, why now?

What was wrong with him?

This made no sense.

"Anyway, It seems you aren't hurt, Moon. I'm glad."

"Hurt? Uhm... no..." Then I remembered about Lufas. "That's right, you are hurt Lufas, we need to take care of you."

"Ughh... I'm fine, really. You don't have to worry about me." His muffled voice sounded strained.

"It doesn't matter how much you say otherwise, you do need help. So let's head to the nearest doctor, please."

"Okay, okay, fine. I guess I can..."

But, he didn't complete his sentence, as he fell on the ground and stopped breathing.

"Eeh? Eeeeh?! Lufas! LUFAS!!! Wake up! Please wake uuuup!"

I shook him by the shoulders frantically.

"Lufas! Can you hear me?!"

He didn't move at all. In fact, his body felt limp, making it hard to shake.

"Calm down, Moon. He isn't death yet, I think he is unconscious. Let's take him to the pharmacy."

"That's right! There was that Dr. Hippocrates in Sunnyrise. We should take Lufas there! They will know what to do!"

We rushed over to Dr. Hippocrates place and asked for assistance. The receptionist seemed surprised to see us. She pointed out to a room behind her desk and told us to follow her inside.

Finally, we left Lufas in the doctor's hands.

***

Next morning.

I was sitting beside Lufas' bed. That strange black mask was still on his face for some reason. He was sleeping peacefully.

"Ahhh..."

A tear ran down my cheek.

Why did I cry...? Why am I crying? I shouldn't be sad. Should I? But I was. I could feel it deep within myself. I cried because I was happy. Happy that he was alive.

I looked at him again, feeling relieved. My tears were replaced with joyous laughter. This was happiness. Happiness mixed with relief. Relief that I wouldn't lose another person close to me.

I reached my hand towards his face, trying to take off his mask, but hesitated. Instead, I gently stroked his hair. A soft sigh escaped his lips.

His eyes opened slowly and gazed upon mine.

"Moon?"

"Yeah, it's me, Lufas. How do you feel?"

"Ugh, not good... What happened yesterday? Where are we now?"

"Well, you fainted last night after you got shot, and we're currently in Dr. Hippocrates' clinic."

"Shot... Oh yeah, that's right. I remember something like that happening at that time. Did I pass out or anything? I thought I just lost consciousness for a while, but maybe I passed out completely?"

"You collapsed on the spot. Your heart stopped beating for a moment, but the doctor here managed to revive you before it was too late. I made me so worried."

"I see..." He turned his gaze away from me and stared blankly into space. "I'm sorry for worrying you. I guess you never changed, who you are. You were always such a worry wart."

"Huh? Me? Worry wart? What... what are you talking about?"

"Yes, you. You even cried so much when you got that dirty toy as a gift.... Ugh... my head is pounding and spinning. Everything hurts. And why does my arm hurt so badly?"

What? What did he just say?

"No way! T-there is no way!" I shouted in disbelief.

Lufas sat up and groaned loudly. His mask finally fell off.

"Luta? I-is that you? Is that really you? Luta!"

"Luta...? What are you? Ugh... I think, I think you were calling me like that when we were kids... Ugh... my head..."

I jumped onto him, hugging him tightly. Tears streamed down my cheeks. I couldn't believe it. I have finally found him. I have finally found Luta!

"Wha... What are you doing, you idiot! Sigh..."

"Luta, Luta..."

He didn't seem to notice anything strange, was it because of medicaments?

"Luta! I missed you so, so very much... sniffle, sniffle..." I sobbed uncontrollably. My nose began to run and tears rolled down my cheek. I hugged him tight, pressing my forehead against his chest. I felt warm. Warmth radiated from him. I pressed closer, soaking in that warmth. That wonderful heat.

"Ahhh~" I sighed happily. I closed my eyes, basking in the sensation of finally meeting again. After all those years apart, I could finally be reunited with him once more.

"Ugh... what are you...?" Lufas mumbled, bewildered by my sudden affectionate behaviour.

"Why? Why did you leave me at that time? I was so sad back then... I cried myself to sleep every day... I missed you so much... I looked for you everywhere, but I never found you... I thought you would come home one day, but... you never came... So I gave up looking... But now I've finally found you... I'll never let you go again, ever... snifle... snifle..."

The words poured forth without pause. They spilled from my lips, leaving no room for hesitation. The flow of emotion left me unable to stop or control any of it. All the pain and suffering that I endured during our separation seemed to vanish. No matter how many times I tried, I simply couldn't hold back the torrents of emotions surging through me.

"Left you...? I... right... sigh, I guess I was keeping it a secret from you. It seems I spilled the beans. Sigh, how troublesome."

I wrapped my arms around him tightly, clinging to him desperately. I buried my face into his shoulder. There was nothing else I wanted than to feel his body close to mine. To hear him breathing. Just to know he was still alive. I'm not going to let him go again. Never again.

"Hmhm... Sigh... I'm still hurt, you know? Can you be a bit gentler, you idiot?"

His voice sounded tired.

"Sniffle... I'm sorry, I just want to hug you so badly... Ahh~, I'm sorry I don't know what is wrong with me, right now. I just feel all sorts of emotions I don't understand. I'm just so happy that I finally found you, Luta."

I pulled away slightly, peering up at him through tear-filled eyes. His face was more mature than I remembered it. He was a grown man, after all. And yet, there was something familiar about him as well. Something I knew all too well. A smile crept onto my face, despite the circumstances of us.

"Oh, yes... You're really here, Luta... It's not a dream... Hehe~" I giggled happily, squeezing him tighter. "You look even better than I remember."

He smiled gently, running his hand over my head.

"Sigh... You haven't changed at all, Moon... you are as much of a crybaby as ever..."

Luta's expression softened, smiling softly at me. Then he reached his hand slowly towards me and patted my head softly. I felt warmth spread throughout my entire being, causing me to melt like butter in the sun. This feeling was indescribable, but I didn't care. Nothing mattered other than this moment. Not the fact that we were separated for so long. None of these things existed any more; they weren't important any more. For the first time since I was born, everything was perfect.

"Mn... Mmmnn... Luta..."

I moaned quietly, burying my head unto his large hand. My cheeks flushed redder and hotter by the second. But none of this could compare to how good I felt inside.

But, the sudden knocking sounds interrupted our reunion.

"Hey, Moon, is the guy asleep yet… Oh, did I interrupt you guys?"

It was Gustav.

"N-no... we were just…” What, we were just?! I don't know!

"Hahaha, kidding, kidding. But, I see he is awake, huh? So, why don't we have breakfast together then?"

Gustav grinned brightly at me.

"Ah, uh... sure..."

***

After some time. The three of us, that is: me, Luta and Gustav were sitting at the table in 'The Palace', where me and Gustav eat together, while we were on date. For some reason, there was also another person sitting beside us. It was Lilith. She looked quite bored, staring blankly at the food in front of her. Then she started eating it without giving a word.

"But, still. That place sure brings out memories, huh? Isn't that right, Moon? I mean, we had such a lovely date here once upon a time..."

Gustav reminisced fondly, gazing lovingly into my eyes.

"That is..." For some reason, I felt really uncomfortable hearing him say those words. Why am I blushing so hard? I thought.

Then suddenly, I looked at Luta. Wha...?!

"Date, you say?" Luta was glaring at Gustav with a furious gaze.

"Yes, we had such a lovely time here before!"

"Is that true, Moon?" Luta asked me.

"L-Luta... I mean..."

I looked down, unable to meet his gaze.

"Well, it wasn't exactly a 'date', if you know what I mean," I muttered, averting my gaze from him. Why was I averting my gaze here?! Ugh, I felt so weird, as if I did something really wrong or bad. I just couldn't shake off the feeling.

"Hey, don't glare at Moon, 'Mr. Luta', you are scaring him. Look at how scared he looks."

Hearing Gustav's words, Luta glared at him again.

"Who the hell do you think you are, for calling me Luta, huh? Do you want to die? You will regret saying anything like that ever again!" he growled menacingly at him.

For some reason, I found myself flinching away from Luta. I guess because his expression made him look very scary indeed.

"U-uhm... sorry..."

Why am I apologizing to him? I wondered.

Luta sighed deeply after seeing me apologize. "Sorry about that, Moon. It seems I unconsciously scared you when I said that. Don't worry, I didn't mean any harm by doing that. We've known each other long enough already, haven't we? Like, from the day we were only little kids. Even though we were separated for some time, as of now our bond has grown stronger than anyone else could understand, yes?"

He smiled warmly at me, which made me feel more embarrassed instead.

"Y-yesh..."

"Hhm~, is that so...?"

This time it was Gustav, who looked at Luta with a cold glint in his eyes.

"Hii!" A small yelp escaped my lips from surprise.

"Oh, sorry, sorry. Look at me, telling this and that to our 'Mr. Luta' here, when I'm the one that needs to apologize. I'm sorry, Moon. Please forgive me, okay?"

Gustav apologized sincerely.

"N-no, it's alright! Really, no worr..."

Crash.

"Didn't I tell you no, not to call me Luta? Are you going to keep making fun of me?!"

Suddenly, Luta, stabbed his knife onto the table while glaring at Gustav.

"Wahh, wai-" I yelped in fear.

"I'm sorry, 'Mr. Luta', I mean, Mr. Lufas. I shouldn't have done that. If you're angry, then let me apologize properly right now. Okay?"

After hearing Gustav's sincere apology, Luta slowly put away his knife into its sheath. His face softened up, and he gave a faint smile towards me. Then he looked at Gustav and smiled with a strange grimace on his face.

"It's fine, Gustav. No need for an apology. Let's forget all about it already, hmm?"

For the whole time, Lilith was just eating her meal without a care in the world, as if the whole situation didn't concern her.

***