It was already two weeks since Hikaru arrived in Avalleon. He wanted to earn his own money, but Noon advised Hikaru to get some rest until his condition got better. Hikaru didn't think it will be better. Even without the lack of mana problem, his body was already weak. Even if his body had overcame changes, his problematic heart was still the same.

Hyde was worried about him too. He forbade Hikaru to go get a job, worrying that it would make Hikaru's health gets any worse. Didn't want to make Hyde worried, Hikaru obeyed Noon's advice to stay at home.

Although he sort of sick of people walking on eggshells around him.

Maybe Noon saw that Hikaru became really depressed after that talk. So, all of a sudden, Noon suggested that Hikaru went on an outing with Reese who was currently on a vacation.

“Only for a day,” warned Noon with a serious face.

That made Hikaru lightened up. Noon made sure that Reese followed his instructions as to not make Hikaru too tired and to protect Hikaru. Truthfully, there was a lot of dos and don'ts that Hikaru lost his concentration halfway. Reese seemed a little annoyed with the naggings too.

“Is it okay for me to be far away from Hyde?” Hikaru asked.

“As long as there were any of us, you'll be fine...” Noon slowly said.

Hikaru tilted his head in confusion.

•°•°•☆•°•°•

The D-day is here!

Reese excitedly dragged Hikaru out of the house when the sun was up, and decided to take Hikaru to the outskirt of the town since Hikaru had already went to the town with Hyde last time.

During the one week after they became friends, Reese treated Hikaru as his playmate and often swung by Hyde's house to spend time with the younger boy. Sometimes, when Hikaru's body was in a good condition, Hikaru would follow Hyde to the cafe, which was named Ametrine Cafe. Being with Hyde is the most comfortable than lying at home alone, drinking glasses and glasses of Milk Dew like a new born baby. Reese would sometimes visit the cafe and spent his time there while his grandparents were ‘on a date', as Reese always said while pouting. Hikaru thought that Reese was bored and lonely, that was why he kept on following Hyde or Hikaru.

Not that he mind. Well, that's how they became close, after all.

Back to the story.

To go to the outskirt, they would ride a huge, single horned lion. Reese proudly introduced Arveg the lion to Hikaru. Apparently, Arveg grew up with Reese and they were already like brothers. Hikaru giggled when he saw Arveg's tail and kept comparing it with Reese's. They were matching each other! He then greeted Arveg with the biggest smile that he could give.

Arveg was SO FLUFFY!!

His mane was shining under the sun light and so puffy, his fur were so thick and looked so soft. Hikaru's trembling hands were trying to reach the big lion, but Arveg avoided him. Hikaru tried a few times, but failed. It seemed like Arveg could sense Hikaru's obsession with fluff, so he was very wary of the boy.

“Hey, be nice to Hikaru. He's my friend,” asked Reese while rubbing Arveg's snout. Arveg closed his eyes and rubbed his snout against Reese's hand.

After being satisfied by Reese's pettings, Arveg turned to the depressed Hikaru and nudged Hikaru's cheek as if trying to coax the teenager. Hikaru pouted and took a glance at Arveg. Arveg nudged Hikaru again, making the latter smiled. Hikaru quickly hugged Arveg's head and nuzzled his face into Arveg's mane. Arveg reluctantly let Hikaru had his moment.

After that historical moment (at least for Hikaru), they rode on Arveg's back and went to the gate. Hikaru looked around with an awestruck look on his face.

“Is this the view that tall people always see?” asked Hikaru with a slightly high pitched voice. His jaw was hanging down in amazement.

“Although I don't think that there were any people who would be taller than Arveg...” said Reese while frowning.

He greeted Jamie and the guard gave him pass after asking him a few questions. Hikaru was busy looking and admiring the view while they stepped out of the gate. It had different feels rather than walking on his own two feet.

On the way to the place that Reese deliberately hide from Hikaru, Hikaru asked about the relationship of the Three Musketeers. Reese pondered about how he should start the story.

“I grew up with Gramps and Grandma after my parents died fighting the war 18 years ago. I only had one mom and one dad, by the way. They were young, when they died. So, mom never met his other mates. I feel bad for the mates, though. They never had a chance to meet my mom.” Reese laughed. Then, he continued, “The war that time was pretty bad, but fortunately it didn't hit this town cuz it took place in the part of the country that was further away from here.”

Reese took out the two similar necklaces that he was wearing and showed them to Hikaru.

“These were my parents' wedding necklaces. It still had their mana infused together in the union stone,” said Reese with a grin on his face. “Cool, huh?”

Hikaru stared at the lockets which had one embedded stone each. Hikaru assumed that these stones were the union stone. The stone had the shades of light blue and pastel pink, merging together and softly glowing. Hikaru's eyes were widen while he was admiring the beautiful stones.

“It's beautiful...” whispered Hikaru in amazement.

“Right?! Those were the colours of their mana. Even the people who can't see the mana like us can see them clearly from inside the stone.” Reese smiled brightly at Hikaru. Even so, Hikaru could tell that the guy in front of him was sad from the look in his eyes.

“It was when I cried alone, holding these necklaces that I met Hyde. At that time, I was missing my parents so much that I couldn't take it and cried. Hyde found me, brought me to his house and fed me food. Hyde's dad's food was the best!” Reese paused.

“But, my Grandma's food is the bestest!” Reese shouted while he held up his fist high in the sky. Hikaru thought that was adorable.

“That really made me wanted to try your Grandma's food...” he said with a chuckle.

Reese turned his head back and looked at Hikaru with a bright smile. “Sure! I guarantee that you'll love it!” He looked to the front and continued his story.

“Hyde was kind. He would always listened to me and patted my head. Then, I met Noon. Noon was Hyde's friend. He would always ran away from home and slept over at Hyde's house. I thought he was an okay guy at first, but he nagged a lot! Seriously!”

Reese huffed in annoyance when he thought about the annoying nagger, Noon.

“He always nags and scolds me ever since we were kids! He was a good guy, though. As long as his mouth remains shut,” Reese complained while gritted his teeth.

Hikaru let out a snort. Those three really were close with each other. Even though Reese always complained a lot about Noon, it didn't seemed like he really hate that guy.

They reached near a small waterfall inside the forest not far from the lake where Hikaru first opened his eyes two weeks ago. It was located a little bit further in the forest and was hidden from view. The continuous sound of water falling greeted them as if tempting them to jump into the cold water. Incidentally, the day was a little warm today. Reese helped Hikaru to get down from Arveg's back. They walked towards the small river after Reese told Arveg to not wander around too far.

There was no one besides those two today. Hikaru felt comfortable to be there without having to mind about others. He squatted near the edge of the river and touched the cold water. It was so refreshing! The river was not that deep too.

“Hey, Reese? Wanna get in the water?”

“Why do you think I brought you here?”

Reese grinned until Hikaru could see his beautiful white teeth. He had cute tiny fangs too! Hikaru nearly shrilled because of the cuteness overload. Thankfully, he had managed to control himself. From between the trees, he could see Arveg was giving him his judging eyes while munching away the grass around him.

“What's wrong?” Reese asked the baffled Hikaru. Hikaru shook his head and laughed.

He quickly took off his clothes except for his underwear and jumped into the water. He always wanted to do that. When the black haired boy turned around to look at Reese, he saw his friend had already wet from the water that splashed him. The redhead's tail was drooping down too. A roar of laughter erupted from Hikaru's mouth, turning Reese red from anger.

“You brat! You're so done now!”

Hikaru shrieked with laughter as the now half naked Reese was splashing him with the cold water as revenge. Joyful laughter filled the air as the two boys were messing around with each other. Arveg ignored them and continued munching the fruits he found.

Hikaru never did laugh out loud like this. It was fun! He felt like all of his burdened thoughts flew away from him, leaving only happiness and joy. Being with Reese was fun! Having a friend is fun!

Reese then volunteered himself to teach Hikaru how to swim. Their skin touched, which made the both of them blushed a little. Reese pretended to be okay with touching Hikaru, but Hikaru saw his ears were turning red. Hikaru smiled and pretended not to notice.

•°•°•☆•°•°•

It was lunch time. Hikaru was exhausted after spending the whole morning in the water. If Noon saw his pale face right now, he would definitely start nagging at Hikaru.

Reese and Hikaru went to Ametrine to have lunch. Hyde who was serving his customers was shocked when he saw Hikaru's pale face. He hurriedly ran over to Hikaru and held Hikaru's cheeks in his large palms. A frown formed on the silver haired man's face while he shifted his eyes to Reese. Reese pouted.

“We just went to the waterfall to play a bit,” Reese mumbled.

“What?!” Hyde quickly turned to Hikaru. His eyes clearly showed his worry for his soulmate. “Are you okay? Maybe you're exhausted.”

Hikaru laughed at the overprotective man. Come on! He was not a child. Hikaru can take care of himself.

Hikaru's face blushed when he noticed there were a lot of eyes staring at them. Some of them grinned in amusement at the drama scene that happened live in the cafe.

“I'm okay! We were just too excited playing in the water that we forgot the time,” Hikaru explained to Hyde with a whiny tone. Seriously, this guy is really like a mom!

“We're hungry,” said Reese while grabbing Hikaru's left arm. Hikaru internally cheered his redhead friend who brilliantly changed the subject.

Hyde finally realized that he had made a free show for the customers and staffs in the middle of the cafe. He hid his face in embarrassment and whispered to the two that he'll bring something for them to eat while stroking their heads. After Hyde was gone, Hikaru and Reese shared a fist bumped while giggling.

They found a seat in the corner of the cafe and sat there, waiting for the food to be served. While waiting, they chatted about a lot of things until Hyde came to their table, holding a tray of foods and drinks. He joined them for lunch as he still haven't had his yet.

Hikaru looked around the cafe while chewing his creamy seafood pasta. He shifted his gaze to Hyde's face. As if he could detect his Jiwa was looking at him, Hyde turned his head towards Hikaru. His blue eyes caught Hikaru's round eyes. His eyebrows lifted in confusion.

“Do you need anymore staff?” Hikaru asked while fidgeting his fingers under the table.

Hyde squinted his eyes and said, “No.”

Hikaru sighed in disappointment and continued in shoving his lunch into his mouth. Hyde sighed and patted Hikaru's head. He gently stroke the smooth black hair before opened his mouth.

“I'll try ask Noon if he had any job to give you. At least, with Noon around I won't have to worry about you,” Hyde persuaded Hikaru with a gentle tone in his voice.

Hikaru's obsidian eyes lighted up and a joyful smile spread out on his cute lips. Hyde was swooning at the adorable sight in front of him. He loved that cute smile and beautiful shining eyes. Hyde was glad that his decision could make his Jiwa so happy like that.

“Your tail was moving like crazy, y'know?” the forgotten Reese nonchalantly said while gobbling down his Salisbury steak.