"Neko-chan, stop!" Jasper called from not too far behind her. She paid him no heed as she made her way through the trees. "Neko-chan!"
Finally, he got his arms around her and immobilized her. She fought to get free, but he was determined to keep her from running any further.
"I'm not going back there!" she cried desperately.
"Neko-chan, you have to," he replied. She found his voice too calm for the situation. He should have been shaking or screaming or something. Not calm. "You have to go back and apologize to Tenshi-san."
"Iya, I can't," she gave up fighting his grip on her. Instead she twisted around in his arms, looking to him for support. "I can't!" she sobbed. "I hate her!"
"Iie, you don't," he assert gently. "You love her. You're just so mad at her right now that you don't know the difference."
But Neko couldn't deal with that right now. She buried her face into his chest. "Stop defending her," she begged him. "She was going to hurt you."
"No. No, she wasn't." His voice had taken on the quality of one soothing a child. She didn't care. She just wanted his consolation. Even if he wasn't telling her what she wanted to hear. "She just loves you so much, she didn't know what she was doing."
He seemed so adamant that she return to Tenshi. She looked up at him. He was completely sincere. "Why do you care so much?" she asked softly.
"I just want you to be happy, Hime-chan. She can do that for you."
Something in his eyes made her heart beat a little more quickly. It was something she didn't really comprehend, but it still made her feel she could believe in him. He really did care about her. "I'd rather stay here with you," she told him honestly.
"If that's what you wish," he finally consented, unable to say no to her.
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