So far the twins have come to be near to useless. Although blondie and eyepatch seem a tad reliable. They know how to tend to a fire.. Which is better than nothing. Although they seem to know jack shit about gardening. I’ll probably have to teach them about that, which shouldn’t take too long… Hopefully.

I kneel to the ground, adding more wood to the small fire. I look up at blondie as he starts to speak, “You know.. If we're gonna live here, we may need to know your name.” I sigh, looking back at the fire. 

“You should know I’m not looking for friends. The last time I tried to be in a group it didn’t go well.” Blondie and the eyepatch look at each other, before looking at me. Eyepatch starts speaking first, “ I’m Gwen,” she motions to the blondie, “and this is Akihiro.” She looks at the two twins, “These two are Chanse, and the girl next to him is Aurelia. I’m sure as you’ve noticed already, but they’re twins.”

I nodded at Gwen, before sighing. “I’m Katsu Myoga. We are not on a first name basis, so do not try. If you want something from me it better be important.”  Gwen nods, and Akihiro grins. God- I could watch that man all day. 

As I’m watching Akihiro, I think I make it a bit too obvious because the next thing I know he raises an eyebrow. It’s only now I realize how long he’s known I’ve been looking at him. I avert my gaze, looking back at the fire. I don’t dare look up. 

A few hours later everyone is curled up, ready to go to sleep.. With the exception of me, of course. I’m too busy reorganizing everything the twins moved. An hour or two later I hear rustling from behind me. I immediately dread whomever it is trying to disturb me. God, why couldn’t they just keep to themselves and leave me alone? “Boo.” 

Instantly after hearing the words whispered right into my ear, I act on instinct and swing my fist, ready to hit whatever may be a threat to me. To my dread, the thing my fist ended up impacting was the one person I want to avoid right now.. Akihiro. 

“Woah- you pack quite the punch-” he mumbles, forcing a small smile as he rubs his cheek. I sigh, ignoring him and just going back to organizing the supplies. I hear him sigh from behind me, and sits down next to me. 

“You know- you seemed shy at first but I don’t think that's the case anymore.” I glance over at him and grumble “Thanks, Sherlock.” God- do they think these are compliments? It’s insulting. “Did you want anything?” I look over at him.. And he’s already staring at me. I look away, trying to focus back on the supplies. “I think you need sleep. How long have you been without it?” I sigh, trying to recall the last time I got rest. I’m honestly not sure.. “Why does it matter to you anyways? You’re just a person who I allowed to stay here after they broke into my home.. Even after some of you insulted it.” I tilt my head over to the twins and Gwen who are asleep. 

Akihiro sighs and gets up, walking away. Good. At least he knows to give up while he can. After a bit longer sorting, I decided to try to get some rest.. Even if it does seem a bit pointless at this point. I go over to a corner, sitting down as I lean my back against the wall. I hug my knees and lean my head back, closing my eyes. After a bit of struggling, I finally managed to fall asleep. 

I woke up to a conversation..  They’re whispering so I really can’t hear what they’re talking about. I rub my eyes, adjusting myself to the light. I can't tell if it's me being tired or they're really quiet but I can barely make out what they're saying. I can only figure out a few words. "Consider… negotiate…" are the only two words I can make out. 

I groan, my legs aching from walking so much.. I'm not sure why it's just hitting me now. The whispering stops. I open my eyes completely, blinking a few times to fully adjust. I look over and find them sitting in a circle, Gwen looks pissed. 

I look at them all before just nodding my head in acknowledgement, and walking into what used to be the restroom, which is now where I clean up after my trips. Silently closing the door behind me I grab the water bottle and cloth at the sink and pour a bit of water on the cloth. Looking in the mirror I come to the realization how filthy my face looks, there is dirt everywhere. 

Groaning, I take the cloth and rub the dirt off my face before they finally disappear.. For the most part. I grab the comb that I managed to find and comb it through my hair till it’s mostly smooth. I step out and close the door behind me, and look at the group again. Gwen is off to the side, her arms crossed. I grab two bottles of water and walk over to her, handing her one. She glances between me and the bottle, before opening it and taking a sip. “..Thanks.” God- I think I said this earlier, but her voice is just calming. I nod at her, pressing my lips into a thin line. The silence is long and awkward. The only thing keeping me from walking away is my curiosity. Everything from the curiosity of how she got the eyepatch, to everything from why she’s so mad. 

I open my mouth to say something, but Akihiro beats me to it, “Hey! Where’d you get the water?” I looked over at Gwen before going over to Akihiro, giving him the second bottle of water I had grabbed. “Ration it. I don’t have much and I don’t need you mooching off all my stuff.” Akihiro smiled, grabbing the bottle out of my hand, opening the seal. 

Everything that happened after that was pretty insignificant. However, a week later when I was getting ready for my next trip, Gwen and Akihiro pulled me aside. Akihiro started it off first, “Hey, Katsu? We need to talk.” I look at the two of them, before raising an eyebrow. Gwen nervously glances at Akihiro and while he continues “What exactly do you do on these trips?” My whole world freezes before me, all my memories of the day flooding back to me. Gwen reaches and places her hand on my shoulder, rubbing it. “You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to.” I look between her and Akihiro. “I can’t do this today. I need to fucking leave, I have things to do.” I walk past them, bumping against Akihiro’s shoulder and I continue to walk. “I told you, Aki. This was a bad idea. I’m just glad you didn’t pitch your other idea.” Akihiro mutters something in response, I really couldn’t give a shit right now. 

I finish packing up and before I know it, it’s the next day and I’m about to walk out the door. “Katsu!” I automatically know who the voice is..