"It's a twin thing, Jasper-san. 'Cuz we love each other. I wouldn't expect you to understand," Mi-chan told him hostilely, as she hugged her body trying to get warm still.
"You think I don't know how to love?!"
"Guys," Tenshi warned them. She considerately handed Mi-chan her jacket for some extra warmth.
"It's okay, I don't get how we did it either," Neko informed Jasper truthfully, as an aside. She didn't want him to think she was keeping anything from him.
"Well, the good news is we have half the stones," Tenshi said, cheerfully changing the subject. She held up the second stone for Mi-chan to see.
"Yeah, what'd you do to appease that dragon?" Jasper asked.
Tenshi lowered her eyes. "It was an accident. When I yelled at her to leave Koneko alone, she looked in my eyes to find out why. She can see inside people's heads, so she gave me the option to get to the stone if Koneko was really as I said she was."
Complete purity - was that what Night Angel had thought to the dragoness? Neko was beginning to feel strange inside, but she wasn't sure what the sensation was.
"After that, I just had to believe that Koneko would trust me enough to do as I asked."
"Minna, can we get out of here?" Neko asked quietly.
Mi-chan looked at her in concern. "Are you okay?"
Neko shook her head. "I don't feel very good," she said, her voice shaking. "Please, let's stop talking and go."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
They found a route out and, after traveling for what seemed like forever, ended up on the opposite side of the mountain. A few deep breaths of fresh air and the color began to return to Neko's cheeks.
"Were you feeling claustrophobic?" Tenshi asked her apprehensively. When Neko had told them that her stomach hurt, Tenshi had suggested Mi-chan give her (actually, each of them, as they hadn't eaten since yesterday) a piece of candy from her jacket pocket that Tenshi had almost forgotten she had, hoping that Neko just was suffering from hunger. But while that had had the wonderful effect of winning Neko's appreciation, the younger girl hadn't looked like it had helped much. Which, of course, made all of them worry more. But since she looked better now, Tenshi wondered if Mi-chan had been right about Neko retaining her claustrophobia.
Neko raised an eyebrow. "Claustrophobic? I just didn't feel well. It's much better out here though." She stood near the edge of the path they were on and took another deep breath, letting it out in a sigh. "The sun came up while we were in there," she said happily.
Mi-chan sighed too, but it was a different type of sigh. "Where do we go from here?"
Tenshi looked around, but couldn't see any clues. "We've been pretty good at finding things by accident," she said optimistically. Right now, it seemed that was the best they had.
"Didn't Senken-sama say we should go up the mountain?" Jasper remembered.
"Up the path, through the mountains, collect four stones, place them at the compass points around a reflecting pool in a clearing on this mountain," Neko recited to them, happy to be of use.
Mi-chan didn't seem as eager to follow Jasper's suggestion, probably, Tenshi reflected, just because it was him that had mentioned it. "Yeah, well, she didn't say anything about going through the center of the mountain and ending up on the other side, so maybe we should scout ahead a little. I'll investigate that way," she pointed up the path, "and Ten- no, uh, Jasper-san, you can try going down a little."
Tenshi understood. While Mi-chan didn't want to have to trust Jasper to check out the path, she wanted even less to leave Neko alone with him. So she got to Neko-sit. Not that she minded all that much.
Neko seemed to have it figured out too. "She really doesn't like Jasper-kun, ne?" she asked after the two had departed.
"They have a few issues, yes."
Neko sat down against the tunnel exit. "I wish they'd get over it. I like them both." She leaned her elbows on her knees and rested her chin in her hands. "Will I still like him when I have my memories?"
"I believe so," Tenshi assured her.
"I'm glad. He's really nice. Ne, did you know he could do magic?"
"Magic?"
Neko's eyes began to sparkle as she recalled what he had done for her. "He healed me! I got cut, and he fixed it! It was amazing!"
"Oh. Yeah, I knew he could do that."
Tenshi took a few moments to consider telling Neko she could heal too. She had to admit that she was just the tiniest bit jealous that Jasper had been the one to share his healing ability with her. And it would be good in an emergency for her to know that Tenshi could heal as well as Jasper. But Tenshi wasn't willing to start bragging to try and impress Neko. And that's what it would seem like if she announced that she too had that ability.
She considered the choice, but forgot all about the debate when she realized that Neko was studying her intently. "Koneko?"
Neko, realizing she was caught, looked away quickly. "Sorry. It's just� you're a girl."
"Good of you to notice," Tenshi said, blushing at the thought that Neko was checking out her figure. Without her jacket, it was more obvious that she had a female one.
"Are you really Night Angel?"
"Oh," Tenshi's spirits dropped as she realized that this was just Neko wondering about her switch in gender. She got that a lot, and she should have been used to it, but with Neko it had been a complex subject anyway. Now it was twice as complicated, since Neko still hadn't seemed to figure out that she liked Tenshi. "Yes, Night Angel and I are the same person," she acknowledged.
Neko got up and scrutinized Tenshi's eyes. "You are! But why-?"
"My mom wanted a boy, got me, but as a Senshi I got to be a Knight. That's the short version." There was a longer version, but if she went into detail she was worried she might let it slip about her relationship with Neko.
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