Going back a few minutes, Tsuki follows the blue fire into the woods deeper and deeper.

“Come on little guy, don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you.”

He tries to catch up to the hopping flame but it is always just a bit ahead of him. He eventually makes his way to a clearing in the woods where the blue fire hops off into the thick fog just outside the ring of trees, causing him to lose sight of it. He stops with a disappointed look before getting drawn to the area that he’s in. The trees form a circle around the area with fog floating throughout them in all directions except the way he came. The grass is short and brown but still alive. Tsuki looks around confused and almost in awe as he starts to realize the situation he’s in.

“Oh no… I have no idea where I am…”

He says with a worried tone when he hears a snapping noise of a twig behind him. He turns around sharply only to see nothing. The ominous setting along with the deafening silence begins to fill Tsuki with anxiety causing him to sweat snd freak out.

“I just have to get out of here. Back the way I came.”

He says in a soft whisper, still uneasy, as he begins to walk out of the circle the way he thinks he came in before he hears even more noise come from behind him. He slowly turns to see a large man stepping into the circle of trees.

His eyes are a soft glowing blue with no pupils. He has a long beard that's in a braid and hair in a ponytail with a grey streak in it. He is carrying a large axe in hand. Every time he breathes, blue steam comes out.

He doesn’t seem to have noticed Tsuki yet. He then lifts his hand up by his waist as the blue fire from earlier hops onto it. He stares for a moment before sharply turning his head towards Tsuki. Tsuki jumps back a bit realizing he’s been caught. Suddenly the blue fire begins to form into a large beast almost the size of a full grown adult. The beast is large like a bear but more slim fit like a wolf. It has large fangs that go past its lower jaw like a sabertooth and large claws to match. It doesn’t take a normal physical form as it almost seems to be made of blue fiery energy like the fire it once was. It too is looking towards Tsuki. They stare at him for a moment as the man moves his hand from his open palm to point his finger at Tsuki. As soon as he does this the beast takes off at Tsuki.

He screams as he ducks and the beast dives over him. Tsuki begins to run. He runs as fast as he can while ducking and dodging tree branches and bushes. While running, Tsuki doesn’t notice the ditch dug out in front of him and he falls into the side of it hard. He winces in pain and looks down at his leg to see a large gash in his calf muscle. He looks back to see the beast coming towards him. He gets a horrified look on his face as he begins to crawl out of the ditch and away. He doesn’t even get a meter away before he turns back around screaming for his life as the beast pounces at him. He throws his arms up in front of his face and closes his eyes right before the beast reaches him. He sits waiting for the pain of its strike but it never comes.

He slowly opens his eyes to see Shiori drop kicking the beast in the side of its head causing it to go flying into a tree. Tsuki watches in awe as she lands and the beast gets up shaking its head. She stares at it as it growls then charges back at her but before it can, Hikigaya kicks it in its stomach up. The beast looks stunned as it falls back to the ground on its side. It gets back up shakily as it looks back at them. 

“What is it?” He asks.

“I don’t know but it definitely has intent to kill. Keep your guard up.”

He smacks his fist into his hand and smirks.

“Got it.”

He begins to walk around it while Shiori stays in front of Tsuki. The beast shoots it’s head back and forth between the both of them before deciding to pounce at Hikigaya. He leans back and throws the beast into the tree behind him.

“You know, I’ve always wanted to fight a wild beast just to see how far I’ve really come!” 

It gets up and stares for a moment before its tail stretches and shoots towards Hikigaya. This catches him off guard and strikes him across the face causing him to spit out a little blood. He wipes it away and smirks. 

“Yeah, that really hurt.”

It strikes with its tail again from above so Hikigaya jumps back as it strikes again and again. As it's so focused on Hikigaya, it fails to notice Shiori who jumps above it and lands a falling axe kick to the top of its head, shoving it deep into the ground. As she pushes it down, it stands a bit then swings its claws at her, catching her just a bit on her side. It leaves three slashes that aren’t deep. She jumps back next to Hikigaya, holding her side a bit but not letting the pain get to her.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, you?”

“Dandy.”

“Good. Now let’s finish this.”

They both stance as it charges them. As it pounces, they both kick it under its jaw into the air. It retaliates by shooting its tail directly into Hikigaya’s stomach causing him to slide back. Shiori takes this opportunity to strike its ribcage directly, breaking bones on impact. The beast coughs out much blood as it's sent flying on its side across the ground. It whips its tail around one last time, striking Shiori across the face. This only causes her to flinch however.

The beast tries to get up but struggles as Hikigaya steps up next to Shiori, mostly unharmed from its last attack. Shiori then looks at it again with a slightly bruised cheek and anger in her eye. The beast tries to stand up to continue fighting but once it sees the both of them are mostly unharmed, it pictures them as large monstrous creatures looking down on it. Beings much more powerful than itself. It whimpers a bit as it glows brighter before flashing back into the tiny blue flame again. It then quickly hops off into the woods. Hikigaya exhales sharply.

“Hmph.” Shiori huffs.

They relax and turn towards Tsuki who is amazed at what he just saw. 

“How did you..?”

“Don’t worry about it. Let’s just get you back.” Shiori says, quickly shifting the conversation.

“I imagine your dad is worried sick right now.” Hikigaya adds.

“But you were so amazing! We can’t just overlook what you guys just did- ah!”

He winces in pain again as his leg wound hurts. Shiori crouches next to him and lifts him up in her arms. He looks surprised she picked him up this way and blushes a bit.

They begin walking back the way they came as Tsuki looks at Shiori and his eyes start shining, seeing her with bubbles and sparkles all around.

‘She’s so beautiful…’ “What high school do you go to?” He asks, not removing his gaze from Shiori. Hikigaya quickly answers.

“We go to Iris High. Why?”

Tsuki then wraps his arms around Shiori’s neck and lays his head right beneath hers which she doesn’t react to.

 “Oh no reason…” He says with a dumb smile on his face.