Yune, Eli, and Mizu continued their daily hunts as usual.

Then on one after school day, Yune walked to a supermarket to pick up some groceries. There was a half-off sale for cookies, and she thought that Mizu would like them. She also got milk and other groceries that she thought would be needed. One the way back, she saw Mizu at the park. She had been talking and playing with Anne and Kira. She looked so happy, but Yune was concerned. Yune thought that perhaps those two other kids would bully her. She didn't intervene until she thought it would be necessary, but she still watched from a safe distance. Yune thought that the two girls may try to hurt Mizu, and if there was any indication to that, she was ready to transform and step in. But that didn't come. They just talked and played. Even though, she was relieved that Mizu wasn't hurt, Yune still felt ill will towards the other girls.

When they all got back home to the orphanage, Eli was already home finishing up her homework at the counter of the kitchen.

Then, Mizu came smiling about her day. She came in dropping crumbs of chocolate on the kitchen floor.

Yune came at last and put away the groceries. She had to throw some out due to them from being outside for too long. A waste, she thought, but there was nothing she could do. She put the cookies away on one of the shelves.

"How was your day, Yune?" Mizu asked as she bit into a chocolate bar.

"It was fine," Yune replied, "How was yours? Make any new friends?"

Mizu paused for a second to chew. Eli was also there listening. All three of them in the same room.

"No," Mizu said, "Same old, same old."

"Where'd you get the candy?" Yune asked.

"Oh. I, uh, bought it at a vending machine. Got a little hungry."

"You sure you didn't make any new friends? I'm sure somebody would be happy to be your friend."

"Well, there's plenty of other kids at school. I play with them during lunch. I guess you could call them friends."

"Right. Of course," Yune said. She felt betrayed that Mizu was lying to her, but didn't show it. She thought that perhaps those other girls got inside Mizu's head.

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However, Eli could tell that Yune was asking those questions for a reason.

"Hey, Mizu. Can you go to the bedroom? I think I left my math book up there," Eli said to get her out of the room.

"Sure," Mizu replied as she left the two of them. However, she wasn't naive. She knew that whenever Eli or Yune would ask her out of the room, they would argue like a married couple. Whether it was about stealing Night Demon kills or how much they spent on food. There was usually something that those two argued about. However, they didn't want any of that to spill over to Mizu. They felt that she had enough problems after seeing what happened to the other orphans. For students, they seemed to be already adults.

As soon as Mizu looked to be out of the room, Eli began to talk to Yune.

"Yune, what's wrong? You're acting suspicious," Eli asked.

Yune talked quietly not wanting Mizu to hear from the other rooms.

"Remember what I said about trust."

"Yes. Of course. We can only trust ourselves. So, what's the problem?"

"I don't know, but I'm pretty sure that Mizu has been hanging around with those other Light Guardian kids."

Eli didn't try to act surprised about any of this.

Yune continued, "You knew? How long has it been going on?"

"Relax, Yune. They're just kids."

"Relax? They're not just any kids. They're like us. Light Guardians. They're probably using her against us. We can't trust them."

"You're acting paranoid," Eli replied, "Not everybody is out to get us. Besides, Mizu's happy. She's always acted happy-go-lucky, but now she really is happy."

"Then, why didn't she tell me? Why didn't you tell me?" Yune asked aggressively.

"Because I knew this is how'd you act. Unlike you, I've been trying to make sure others didn't see us as a threat. I've talked with Nina, Anne, and Kira. They're good people."

"You talked to them? You didn't bring me with you for these talks. I thought we were a family."

"We are. This is the closest thing we have to a family. I feel closer to this family than I have had with my own parents."

"Enough. Let's get Mizu down here now. We'll talk as one big happy family," Yune said angrily, "I want to hear what she thinks."

"That's a good idea. I don't want to drag her into this, but you just won't stop until you get your way. She'll tell you how happy she's been," Eli argued.

As they stomped away, the two girls marched over to the bedroom.

"Mizuchi. I'd like to talk to you," Yune ordered, but Mizu was nowhere in that room. Yune's anger turned into worry, "Mizu? Mizu, where are you?"

Eli shouted, "Mizu, where are you!? Come on out! We're not angry with you!"

"Mizu, it's fine. You're not in any trouble!" Yune yelled as they both looked around the house.

They couldn't find her anywhere. Then, Eli found a pile of chocolate pieces and the wrapper left near the doorway to the kitchen where they've been talking. Eli called over Yune to see it. Mizu must have been listening to their conversation. They didn't know for how long, but Mizu was there.

Then, they realized that the front door had been unlocked. They rushed outside and yelled, "Mizu!!! Mizuchi!!!"

But only silence returned. Not even an echo of their own voice.