[x] Hold the vial near the fire.
[x] Forget about it and sleep.

"This fire," I muttered.

There was something unusual about it. At the time, I didn't really know what I was doing. But before I realized it, I had taken the crystal vial from my pocket and held it out near the fire.

"Fwoom!"

The flame rose up violently for a moment. The cap popped out of the vial, and a small portion of the flame was sucked inside. Then, the fire returned to normal as if nothing strange had happened. I blinked in surprise. The crystal vial glowed ominously in my hand, yet it didn't even feel warm. After a moment of thought, I replaced the cap and pocketed the vial that now held a bit of the fire that Mokou built.

'Fire in a bottle?' I thought. Hmm. I guess I could figure it out some other time. My eyelids felt really heavy. I was at my limit now. It was a long night, and I had better get some rest. I leaned my back against the cave wall and dozed off.

"...zzz.."

Now if I was the protagonist of some great epic adventure, this would have probably been the best time for a dream sequence. I would suddenly find myself standing in some place or time that was of importance to the future challenges and trials that I would face. There, I would meet someone I knew well or someone who I had never seen before. Either way, that person would give cryptic clues and hints that would only make sense later on in the story. Perhaps I would even see events that happened in the past or in distant places. Only to find out that these would be somehow related to my own fate.

"..zzz..."

Needless to say, I wasn't in that kind of story. I didn't have any strange dreams. None that I could remember, anyway. Instead, the first thing that brought me back to reality was someone's voice. Then, I became aware that someone was shaking me awake.

"Please wake up. It's morning. Won't you wake up?"

"..."

The voice was familiar, but I felt a bit too tired to open my eyes. I heard a second voice nearby.

"That idiot still isn't awake?"

"He won't respond at all. D-do you think that he's alright? I'm not too familiar with human illnesses... huu.."

"..."

Footsteps. Someone was walking closer. Not that I really cared.

"See? He won't wake even if I shake him. Should we take him to Eientei?"

"Step aside. Let me try an age-old technique of mine."

"Eh? W-wait! I don't think that -"

"CRACK!"

Pain. Right in my guts. So much pain. I curled up on the ground and cursed loudly.

"Goddamit, Mokou!" I cried.

"There we go," she said with a smile. "Our little 'hero' is wide awake now, isn't he?"

"Oh no! Are you feeling alright?"

Meiling helped me up slowly. I rubbed my stomach a bit. It probably wasn't going to make a large bruise, but goddamn it hurt a lot! I glared angrily at Mokou.

"What the hell, man? Who the hell wakes someone up with a kick to the gut?"

The girl just smiled at me, clearly amused.

"Though for a 'hero', you really can't take much damage. Hard to believe that this is the same guy who faced off against a dozen beast crows on his own last night."

My head was still in a daze from the pain and anger, but before I knew it, I already held the rifle in my hand. Then, I aimed it right at Mokou.

"You asshole.."

To my surprise (and annoyance), the gesture just made her smile wider.

"Straight to the point, and real gutsy too. Didn't even hesitate. Heh, I'm think I'm starting to like you..."

"S-stop it!" cried Meiling. "Put that thing down! It's dangerous!"

"..."

I glanced at the gate guard. Her eyes pleaded with me to calm down. I sighed. If she looked at me that way, then even the burning anger in my heart would cool off. Maybe I was just weak against girls who worried about me? In any case, I lowered my rifle. The gateguard then turned to Mokou.

"And you!" cried Meiling. "Please don't toy with him so roughly! He's just an ordinary human, you know?"

"An ordinary human? You sure about that?"

Mokou gave me an accusing stare.

"Do I look like I have youkai strength or magic abilities? I can't even fly, for crying out loud!"

"..."

She continued watching me, as if unconvinced. But I didn't look away. Seeing that I was telling the truth, she finally shrugged.

"Well, if that's true, then I guess I should apologize..."

Mokou turned away and glanced outside. It was early morning, and it wasn't raining anymore.

"I'll escort you guys out of the Bamboo Forest," she said. "And depending on where you are headed, I might tag along for a little bit."

"T-thank you very much!" said Meiling.

Personally, I wasn't feeling very thankful. But I guess that there was no real reason to bear a grudge against Mokou. In fact, I was pretty sure that she wasn't kidding when she said that she liked me. But was that a good thing? Well, whatever.

I paused to think. There was more than one route back to the mansion.
[ ] Misty Lake
[ ] Human Village
[ ] Forest of Magic