"Ah! What did you do to him, you hussy!?"

Jessy held back the little girl who was literally chomping at the bit while keeping a cool smile that seemed to hide something more sinister.

"Now, now, Dot, I'm sure that Miss Nyanjo didn't do anything, and if she did, all we have to do is make her regret being born, isn't that right?"

"...You know, sometimes you scare me, girl."

"I haven't done anything to him, so just calm down! I see you two are just as unreasonable as ever."

"Of course I'm unreasonable! I'm the little voice in the back of your head. Now give me my man!"

As Dot lunged toward Nyanjo like a feral cat Rhea quickly grabbed her by the scruff of her dress and lifted her up. Then before she could get away, she did the same thing to Jessy. In both of her hands, the two pint-sized girls hovered.

"I'm so sorry about that. These two tend to just do whatever they want." A sigh escaped her lips, one that let Nyanjo glimpse into just how hard her last week has been. "I hope Ryuji wakes up soon, I don't know how he gets them to behave, but they were so much better when he was around." Rhea reluctantly let the two gremlins go and watched as they scurried over to Ryuji.

Nyanjo attempted to not focus on the beautiful woman's tired frown. "W-Well, I'm sure he'll wake up soon! He gets into situations like this all the time, right?"

"Yeah, Ryu has a real knack for almost dying! It's like he's a protagonist."

Nyanjo couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the kid's weird mystified expression. She thought of herself as a sort of mentalist. When it isn't really about her, she can figure out just about anyone's motives and how they're feeling, as well as their personality from just spending an hour or so with them, but no matter how long she hung around Dot, she could never get a read on her.

"You say the dumbest shit."

Nyanjo perked up as the final member made her appearance. Queen walked forward with most of their supplies in tow, and behind her was Elio. The cat's eyes bugged as she set them on the body of a young man Elio was carrying.

"What happened to Ash!?"

"Ah, Miss Nyanjo. Well, you see-" His face contorted while he bit his lip. He refused to meet her eyes and instead stared into the ground. "-While I was incapacitated, Ash was fired upon by the enemy. I, of course, healed him the second I could, but he's still out cold."

"More importantly, is that the hero you're all crowding over there? He looks like shit."

Oblivious to the mood or simply not caring, Queen went on her usual tirade of Ryuji even though he was out cold. The air grew heated as both Elio and Nyanjo looked at Marie with contempt.

"Ha! It's nothing new!"

Jessy's laugh cut through the silence, and the hostile atmosphere that had suddenly formed had just as suddenly vanished.

"You say that, but I remember all the blubbering you did when he went missing."

Jessy's face went red, and her smile turned into a biting and clenching of teeth. "SHUT UP!"

The smirk didn't disappear from Queen's face as she stared down the cowgirl. "Are you worried that I might tell the hero how much you've been sobbing during his absence?"

"You wouldn't dare!" Her scowl very quickly turned into something more scrupulous. "How about I tell him how relieved you looked when Rhea said she spotted him!?"

Queen almost fell backward from the shock and quickly tried to hide her blushing face. "Y-You wouldn't dare!"

"Um, hello? Can we please get moving? I'm tired of being here." Nyanjo interrupted the exchange that had been stealing away her brain cells and attempted to be the voice of reason. She looked over to the pile of the man who was about to kill her not too long ago. "This place is depressing, and I want to get to that village as soon as possible."

Rhea appeared confused by Nyanjo's worried tone. "The village? It's only about half a day away."

"Wait, really, that close!?"

The idol couldn't help but burst into Rhea's personal space at hearing the news. Her excited face was pure, and the way her ears perked up along with what Rhea thought was purring made her heart soar out of her chest. To her thankfulness, Elio seemed oblivious to this and interrupted the moment with his own thoughts.

"This is pleasing news indeed!" The commanding and overbearing demeanor vanished. Then his yellow eyes were downcast once again. "I hope you understand, Miss Nyanjo, that I must look after Ash and Ryuji. So you see, I cannot protect you. For this, I am deeply sorry!"

"Uh, it's cool, Abate. I'm pretty sure with the Sword Saint over here, we don't need any other protection. Anyways can we get going?"

Elio's cheeks were bright red and hot after being embarrassed so thoroughly, but he gathered his honor and held his head high as he put Ryuji over his other shoulder. The others strode in front of him and he followed behind before noticing that there was an extra weight on his cargo.

"Um, miss? May I ask you what it is you're exactly doing?"

"If I hold on to him, he can't disappear again."

Elio smiled at the glum child-like pout that Dot had before looking forward and following the rest of the group.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

A loud banging noise caused Ryuji's eyes to pop open. Instead of seeing a winter sky like he was expecting, he saw an aged wooden ceiling. Fear racked his body, and his lungs tightened to their utmost, but one look at the snow falling outside the window was enough to ease his worries. He wasn't back in the city; he was somewhere else. He had left that nightmare behind and would continue to move forward.

"Didn't die, siiiiiiick."

He lifted his head off the slightly uncomfortable straw pillow and sat up to find a little girl clinging to him like her life depended on it. Her orange hair stood out to him as Ryuji thought about how this might be one of the first times he saw her without her hat on.

"You know, when she's sleeping so peacefully like this, it almost makes you forget how annoying she can be."

"Hmn...is someone berating me?" She undid her super bear hug and sleepily rubbed her nonexistent eyes before noticing the situation.

"Not just someone, it's m-oof!"

Without waiting for him to finish, Dot slammed into him with another hug. This time she was clasping around his neck. Her white gloves felt soft against his skin. Her hair's scent filled his nose as she nuzzled into his chest. Ryuji couldn't help but smile as he returned the gesture, his arms wrapping around her back and bringing her even closer.

"Aw, you miss me, huh?"

He tried to fill the awkward air with a joke but was met with silence. He dived deep into his own head, trying to figure out what this all meant until something caught his attention. Dot's body convulsed, and in his arms, he could feel her shake. When he tried to let go and see what was wrong, she only gripped him harder and burrowed deeper into his chest.

"H-Hey are you...are you crying?"

Panic set in; he started thinking a mile a minute about what he should do.

'How do you comfort a girl? Is there something I should say? I've seen girls cry, but it's way different when you're close!'

His mind short-circuited, and the only thing he could do was wrap his arms around her tighter in some hope that she would get the sentiment behind it. She seemed to understand his plea for her to say something, anything.

"Don't leave me again." Her words were barely comprehendible through the hics and sobs. "Please don't ever leave me again!"

Ryuji felt her cry rip his heart apart. He mentally beat the shit out of himself for not considering how much turmoil he put the girls through by disappearing. For some reason, he imagined that they would have been having an easier time without him around, but the person breaking in front of him told a very different story.

"Look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

"Don't leave me..." With every repeat, her hands only gripped him harder as if to never let him go.

To hear the normally but weirdly cheery girl he knew sound so distraught. His soul couldn't take much more abuse.

"I-I won't leave-"

"PROMISE!" Ryuji's hair stood on end as he tried to remember the last time he heard her yell like that. All that came to his mind were bad memories about something that never happened. "Promise me."

Her voice lost all the monstrous strength it had earlier, but he could still feel her determination nonetheless.

"I...I promise that I'll never leave you again."

His hands ran through her orange hair. Despite how he never saw her ever take baths, her hair was surprisingly soft and clean. Her grip loosened, and after a few minutes, her shaking had stopped. He couldn't help but feel odd about the situation he was in. He was fairly sure this was the first time he had ever held a woman this intimately, and the thought of it being his first time made him weirdly excited but also anxious beyond reproach.

"So you'll never leave me again, huh? Kinda sounds like a confession, don't cha think?"

"You're the one who made me say it! Why would I confess to you when you're having a mental breakdown? I do have some class and tact, you know."

"Oh? So you're not denying that you would confess to me?"

"Wha-... look, you know damn well what I meant!"

Ryuji thanked his lucky stars that Dot was too engrossed in his chest to see how red his face had become. But if Ryuji had looked down, he would've seen a similar blush to his own.

"Yeah, yeah."

"So, um, are you ever gonna let go, or do I have to get a crowbar or something?"

"O-Of course! I'll let go right now, yup, uh-huh!"

With blinding speed that he didn't even know Dot could pull off, she let him go and was immediately at the bedroom door. She refused to turn back around and just continued to keep her face toward the exit. Ryuji sat there waiting for her to leave so he could get changed. She remained unmoving, thinking back on the moment they shared and immediately becoming embarrassed again.

"Hey Dot? You goo-"

"Never tell anyone about what happened!"

"I wasn't really planning on it, but now I'm curious, what's going to happen if I do, huh?"

"Oh nothing, I'll just tell everyone about the massive boner you had when we were embracing one another."

Ryuji's world fell apart, and all the good in the world seemed like a sick joke to him now. The possibly worst thing that could have had happened, had happened. What was left for him now? Easy, feign ignorance, or just brush it off.

"Wait! That was just a natural bodily reaction!"

"Oh really? Is that what everyone else will think?" she turned back toward him with a savage smile and her fingers thoughtfully rubbing her chin. "Or will they think you're a virgin who can't stop himself from getting hard from something as small as a hug?"

"I didn't get hard because it was a hug! It was because I was hugging you..."

He trailed off once the word left his mouth. In the heat of the moment, he had said the single most embarrassing thing of his entire life. He would remember this day for all time; he was sure of it. As he considered how rude it would be to jump out the window and escape this situation, Dot dipped first. All she said before bolting down the stairs was a simple-

"Oh."

With his head in his hands, he let out a giant groan. "I'm so fucking cringe!"