Somehow or another, Yukiko and Takashi managed to get out of the academy grounds without too much trouble. Although, after they got outside, Takashi broke into a run at such a speed that Yukiko could barely keep up. He didn't slow down at all until they got to the train station a good fifteen minutes later.

"You..." Yukiko struggles to speak through gasps for air, "What's... with the marathon..? Were we... in that big... of a hurry?"

"Not really. Just confirming something."

"Huh?! Confir-"

"You lack stamina. You'll need to improve that."

With that, Takashi starts walking towards a train. Yukiko follows behind while glaring at him, resisting the urge to knock his lights out. Half the seats were empty, but Takashi didn't even bother looking around for a place to sit. He simply continues walking and enters the section where the seats were concealed in compartments. A majority of them were empty, but Takashi keeps going until he stops at one on the right at the furthest end.

"Go in," he commands, opening the door and stepping aside for Yukiko.

"I know!"

Inside are two seats parallel to each other on the right and left side of the compartment. Yukiko takes the seat on the right side and moves closest to the window. Takashi takes the opposite one across from her, but doesn't slide over to the window side. He doesn't appear to have any interest in the view. Instead, he crosses his arms, slouches a little in his seat and closes his eyes.

Is he taking a nap?

Yukiko stares for a moment, but quickly turns her attention to the slowly passing scenery as the train begins to move. As a spirit, the darkness had no effect upon her eyes. She could see perfectly in the night. Rather, it was the daytime when she felt like her vision was a bit off. The train seems to take a curve, because a soft glow in the sky comes into view. Yukiko's eyes lock onto it, unable to wander.

A waning crescent...

She sighs internally. With all the events happening as of late, she hadn't thought about it.

I suppose I'll be unable to help him when...

The feeling of being watched interrupts her thoughts, and she forcibly rips her eyes away from the moon. When she turns around, Yukiko finds Takashi, still in the same slouched position, with his eyes open and staring directly at her.

"Wh-what?"

He doesn't respond.

"Do you have some kind of problem?"

Takashi blinks and his eyes move to the bag sitting next to Yukiko.

"Why do you have that?"

His voice is quiet, almost a whisper. Yukiko assumes it's due to being sleepy, although he doesn't really look all that tired to her.

"It's my mission bag."

Takashi raises one eyebrow slightly.

"I got a lot of stuff that might be useful in the missions to come. See?"

She pulls out the belt and shows it to him, then she holds her bag out for him to see the other contents.

"I got lots of gear and weapons... we'll surely need this... oh and these too! This could come in handy... Have you seen these before? They're pretty cool. You see, what they do is..."

Takashi stares at her wordlessly while listening to her chatter on all the things she bought. It wasn't until Yukiko had finished talking and started putting everything back in the bag that he finally spoke.

"Even though you were so reluctant to help me... you are surprisingly enthusiastic about the mission."

Yukiko freezes for a split second.

"It-it's not like I'm excited about this..." she mumbles.

"Oh?"

"I'm just trying to make sure everything goes smoothly, so we can hurry it up and go home... Even if I'm being forced against my will to help you out, that doesn't mean I'm going to do it half-heartedly! That's all!"

She sharply turns back to the window and stares at the blur.

"Is that so? Then, in that case, thank you, Yukiko."

His tone is surprisingly gentle and warm. In the reflection of the window, Yukiko catches a glimpse of Takashi with an expression she had never seen before: his smiling face. It's not one of those falsely friendly smiles that he always gave people at school. It is a genuine smile. It only lasts for a moment though before he closes his eyes and goes back to sleep.

The memory of Takashi's eyes staring at her when she turned around flashes through her mind. Yukiko gets the feeling that the mission bag wasn't what Takashi had really been wanting to ask her about, but she brushes it off almost immediately.

Her eyes drift back to the moon hanging in the sky, reminding her of her earlier thoughts.

Ah... I must apologize, Takashi... I will not always be able to help you like this. After all, in a few days, I will...

"We have arrived at our destination. This train will not be making any further stops for the night, so please gather all your things and exit now," a voice, probably the conductor's, sounds over the intercom.

Takashi wastes no time waking up. He gets up and moves swiftly as if he had been awake the whole time. Maybe he had been. Yukiko honestly couldn't really tell the difference between a sleeping Takashi and an awake Takashi.

Yukiko glances at the clock on the wall of the station.

It is only a tad after midnight. People at the academy will begin to stir at dawn. That means we have a bit over five hours to take care of things and return to our dorms. Time is ticking, we must hurry.

~~~

*knock, knock*

Hm? No answer? Is she sleepin' already?

The memory of the wad of paper tightly gripped in Yukiko's hand resurfaces in the boy's mind.

What was that..? Yuki... What's goin' on?

Ren knocks again, but to no avail. Just as he begins to leave, Ren turns back to the door and presses his ear against it.

No good... It's totally silent.

Ren walks away from the door once more, his shoulders slumped in disappointment.

I don't understand what's goin' on anymore... Ever since Tsukicchi came, Yuki hasn't been herself. She acts like she hates Tsukicchi, but I've never seen any reason why. Do they know each other from somewhere else?

Ren flips through images in his memory of Takashi and Yukiko's interactions with each other. He focuses on the scene from the day Takashi sat at their table in the Dining Hall.

That day... The atmosphere felt a lil different back then than it does now... What is it? What's the difference?

He mulls over it for a minute while very slowly walking back to his room.

Wait...Today, the way she was acting was more like displeasure towards Tsukicchi, but that wasn't the same as back then. No... That attitude... She was on the defensive.

 He stops walking.

Defensive? Why would Yuki...

Ren's eyes widen a bit as a realization seems to hit him.

Fear... Yuki is scared of Tsukicchi!

A crease forms on Ren's forehead. The expression makes him look older. It doesn't fit his childlike features.

What changed though? They sure don't get along now, but...

He thinks about the scene of Yukiko dumping food on Takashi.

She's still defensive, but she's got a kinda confidence there. It's like she's somehow sure now that Tsukicchi can't use her fears against her, but at the same time still being a bit wary of him. Something's goin' on, and I'm gonna find out what!