Eld turned and stared wide-eyed at her for a few moments, his face becoming heavily flushed. On one hand, he appreciated the gesture and that she was worried about him.

"T-That's alright," he replied a little too loudly, "we're not going that far."

On the other, however, she'd struck a bit of a nerve; while it was less frequent as of late than it used to be, he still got teased for being...well, kind of girlie. He was still sensitive to being on the receiving end of descriptions or gestures that implied he was feminine. Usually it was just protesting being called cute, but it cropped up in other forms occasionally.

It was difficult to say, though, if what bothered him was what other people thought of him or the idea that he might like the compliments and gestures despite the implications.

The closer they got to the house, the more Etsu wanted to stop walking. She was beginning to remember why she asked Eld if he wanted her coat.

"Er-rd-kun?" Etsu asked as she stopped walking completely.

She stared up at Eld's face and waited for him to acknowledge that she stopped walking. It was an opportune place and an opportune time. They weren't in close proximity of Eld's parents, they weren't sitting somewhere that someone looking for them might check first, and they were out of range for anyone to overhear them if they talked quietly enough. It was sufficiently night and most people in the village were busy cleaning up after supper or preparing for bed. They weren't at all to pay attention to the azure haired girl and Eldridge Tsukimono, standing just between the center of the village and the clinic, stopped to look into one another's eyes.

If, of course, Eld would look into her eyes.

Especially judging by the nature of what she wanted to talk about.

"Are we ever tar-rk about it?"

A few words were missing there, such as "going to," but Eld was long since a master in deciphering Etsu Hikane's broken Common--though wasn't often the best at figuring out the feeling behind anything she said.

Eld turned at Etsu's calling him, looking at her inquisitively. He met her gaze, but when she asked the question he impulsively looked away. There wasn't much she could have been referring to, and one reason fit above all others.

There was no denying that he'd been avoiding talking about it; sorting through his own feelings on the matter was difficult, to say the least. But there was also no getting around the fact that it was something they needed to talk about sooner or later.

He forced himself to look her in the eye again. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked gently. Until recently there had been something of a comfortable understanding between them. Or at least, comfortable enough. But if she wanted to address it, he wasn't going to deny her.

"Hai . . ." she nodded.

She didn't even give it any thought; he'd simply nodded and replied to him just as soon as he asked if she wanted to talk about it.

They might not have this again--this moment of peace and quiet, when no one was looking for them and no one was going to find them. When no one was going to hear them. Etsu felt more comfortable talking about it in guaranteed private, conditions like this. Conditions where his parents couldn't potentially hear them talking from a few rooms down. Or at least hear Eld talking.

It was a shame that a fairly casual evening had to be broken up strictly for this purpose--but Etsu didn't know if she could stand the wait anymore.

"I want to know . . . where to go," she paused, "Fr-om here."

"I-I'm not sure I follow," he replied with a frown. While Etsu's accent made it hard to understand her sometimes, this was more a case of her being too vague. He didn't know exactly what she was asking, and he wondered if he was even right in assuming what she wanted to talk about.

He looked around nervously; while it was unlikely anyone would accidentally overhear them out here, he couldn't help but feel the want to be somewhere more private if they were going to talk. But it couldn't be helped; while he doubted his parents would be able to overhear them from his room, there was still a chance, and it would be even more uncomfortable there.

Deciding to make sure they were on the same page, he asked, "Do you mean...regarding...us?" Part of him hoped she was talking about something else so that he could put this off further, but another part of him hoped he was right because otherwise he'd look like a complete fool. It was really a no-win situation.

Etsu's reaction was almost immediate. "N-nani desu ka?"

The girl's cheeks quickly took on a pinkish color, something Eld would only see up close, as he no doubt was. It was almost like it took a moment for the implication to fully settle in, as her reaction of confusion was followed up quickly by one of flustered surprise:

"N-no!" Etsu exclaimed, "That is not what I mean to tar-rk of at ar-rr!"

That was something she hadn't given too much thought to, either. It wasn't the topic that she was after, and she didn't think she'd have brought it up even if there were no other things to talk about! No, no, no, absolutely not. Maybe if he brought it up at his own volition--but there was so much to their relationship that it'd have been opening up a whole mess that maybe she didn't feel comfortable opening up. What'd they do anymore, anyways? It wasn't like it used to be. She didn't often sleep in the same bed with him. Things didn't just go back to the way they were. Sometimes, if they were both sitting on his bed and she was especially tired

Sometimes, maybe, she wanted to crawl into bed with him--and maybe during those times, she wanted him to hold her. But she could always get to sleep without that. It was just a matter of waiting until she got too tired. After what happened the night before she left him in Hillcrest, it was all just too awkward.

She fought back her embarrassment after a long pause, though. It was only after that she could elaborate better: "I mean to tar-rk of Memories."

"O-Oh! R-Right, of course." Eld laughed nervously as his cheeks matched Etsu's in color. There wasn't any reason to think that she'd want to talk about that! He was relieved, embarrassed, and a little disappointed all at the same time; difficult thought it was to bring up, he remembered those last few days before she left, when they had been a genuine couple, no longer needing to hide their feelings. He wanted to go back to that, but...did she still feel the same way?

He shook the thoughts from his mind; it wasn't the topic at hand, though he now realized he did want to talk about it at some point.

"W-Well...I'm not sure what we can do about them, to be honest," he said, regaining a little of his composure. "We don't know where they come from, or how many more are after Kageko...I'm not sure what to do, other than keep defending myself if they come after me."

"We know . . ." Etsu paused a moment to think, "Four."

There were a solid four that she knew of. They were clear as day to her, and she was pretty sure they were the only ones that had come to Hillcrest. The problem was that they'd come here a few times, and caused some serious trouble for the villagers here--even killed a man up in Galaens.

"Men-sama," she began, referring to Illorex. The word "men" roughly translated to "mask" in Cizokian. This wasn't the first time she'd called him that. "Tou-sama, Kyr-ra, and Hugh-sama."

She paused again, briefly feeling as if she was missing a name or two. Rethinking it, she was certain that this was their roster of enemies so far.

"Men-sama and Tou-sama are vior-rent. They wir-rr attack you and hurt friend I think to get Kageko-sama f-rom you," Etsu reasoned, if only to make Eld completely aware of the potential, "Other--I do not know. I think it onr-ry time be-fore they vior-rent, too. Er-rd-kun, what if they ar-rr come at same time? What if they prepare whir-re we wait? I do no think we can fight ar-rr at same time."

An uneasy look overtook Eld's face. He hoped it was over; that they'd learned their lesson, that from here on out they'd leave him alone. He didn't want to fight them even before if he could avoid it, and especially after what happened a week ago...

"Hugh and Kyla seemed pretty against attacking me--of course, they didn't realize who I was at the time," he admitted. "Toushikyo's violent but nothing I can't handle. But Illorex..."

He shifted uncomfortably. "He worries me; I don't know anything about him. And...he's the only one that had some kind of power I could sense. It was very strong..."

All the other Memories that had special powers were ones he couldn't sense; they weren't using Qi. But for some reason he could sense Illorex with Qi, and he had an overwhelming presence. What that meant he didn't know, but of all the Memories he knew of that were still alive he was the only one that really scared him.

"In any case, I can take care of myself; it's you I'm worried about. They know you're important to me--they might try to get to me through you..." He didn't know why he thought this was likely; but he did know that while none of the Memories had seen him with Sarah, Emma, or Mayako, he'd fought Toushikyo with Etsu. As long as she was without her Qi, there was a limit to what she could do to defend herself.

"Is it paranoid of me to think we should start keeping our weapons with us?" he asked in all seriousness. That way at least Etsu had some way to defend herself if she was attacked, and no one would be able to steal Kageko while he was away from her.

"Iie," Etsu shook her head.

Truth be told, if they were anywhere else, she'd have suggested it herself. If she and Eld were living together somewhere in the middle of nowhere . . .

"But we wour-rd ar-rert vir-rrage," she remarked.

Which was out of the question. As much as they might have need of their weapons to defend themselves, they'd already taken too many risks back before the Memories. They couldn't afford to be seen carrying weapons around, or else they'd have to explain, and there was no functioning explanation in this situation other than the truth--and the last thing Etsu needed was for more people to know. Emma, Sarah, and Mayako knew. If Etsu's superiors knew this, they'd have her head.

No, really. They would.

Secrecy was of the utmost importance in their organization, and Etsu knew that she was--as she was when she was here the first time--responsible for every Purgatory related problem that occurred in this area. On probation or not, she was still an active Reaper.

"They may at-tack town, too," Etsu noted as an important subject change. Eld had a lot more to worry about than just her. A person could easily be swayed by damage to their hometown . . .

Eld nodded morosely; he knew it wasn't realistic of them to carry their weapons everywhere. The villagers would get suspicious, and there was no way he'd be able to lie convincingly enough to explain the situation. And besides, he remembered the family Illorex attacked--chances were that regardless of what he told them, if they thought he was in danger, they'd try and protect him. But with these weren't normal people he was up against; they'd only get themselves hurt, or killed.

He closed his eyes, trying to think things through. He could be attacked at any time, and he needed protect Kageko--but carrying her with him would only make the situation more dangerous. He had no doubt he could handle himself if he was caught without her, but if she was stolen he had no way to find the Memories, with their power to just seemingly disappear.

The realization hit him slowly, and an immense sadness began to fill him. It wasn't a conclusion he'd wanted to draw, but given the situation, he had no other options--not that he could see. He looked up at Etsu sorrowfully, wondering if perhaps she'd already come to the same conclusion...after all, she was smarter than most people gave her credit for.

"I...have to leave, don't I?" he asked.

"We . . . maybe, yes," Etsu replied with a solemn nod.

Through her broken Common, she was trying to say that she'd be going with him if he were to leave. She likely wasn't going to accept arguments, either. It wasn't like she'd burdened him before, after all. Even without powers, she was able to assist Eld in defeating Toushikyo.

"We shour-rd speak with Scott-sempai first," she declared first and foremost.

Now that they were talking about it, this was an option. Etsu wasn't keen on going behind Eld's back with things, so she hadn't talked to Scott just yet.

That was decided with or without Eld's permission, though. Etsu nodded firmly, as if what she said just now was the most obvious choice and therefore their next course of action. She broke eye contact with Eld and began forward, intending to return to Eld's home, where her only communication with Scott was rather cleverly hidden.

"He wir-rr know what to do."

Eld didn't argue with Etsu; he knew that no matter what he did, she'd just follow him anyway, so there was little point in telling her she couldn't go. Besides, since the Memories knew they were close they might target her even if he left alone...and having her by his side made the prospect of leaving a little less lonely.

Lost in thought, it wasn't until they'd reached his room that he voiced a question. "Will he help us?" Never having met Scott, Eld didn't have an opinion one way or another of the man's reliability--he just had to trust Etsu's judgment on the matter.

But Etsu was on a probation, and he wasn't technically a Reaper himself yet...even if she could contact him, there was no telling they'd be able to do anything, especially as there weren't any Ame Voleur involved.

"Hai." Etsu nodded. "Ame Vor-reur are Shinigami busi-ness. Scott-sempai wir-rr her-rp--be-cause it is his job."

She didn't elaborate on what she meant--she simply went silent at that and trudged on ahead of Eld, gone silent, and likely not answering the most important question: did she just call the Memories Ame Voleurs? If there was no previous indication that Etsu knew something Eld did not, then this would be the real convincer.

But, of course, he'd have to find out later--no when they were back in the house, but outside again. The very moment they were in Eld's house, Etsu snagged the sunglasses she had hidden in Eld's sock drawer (oddly, the only thing hidden in Eld's sock drawer), slid them onto her face, and started out. They couldn't talk to Scott in a place they could be heard, because the commu-link she had with Scott was faulty by the judgment of most other Reapers. It was loud and impersonal. Most Reapers preferred the quieter inner-ear links, but Etsu was on probation. She got what she was given.

"Where is safe pr-race?" she asked the instant they were back outside--but quietly, of course. She earnestly could not afford others listening on on this conversation.

Eld looked at Etsu quizzically; he was fairly certain this was the first time she'd encountered the Memories too, as she didn't seem to have any more idea than him about them, so why did she seem to think they were Ame Voleur? From what he knew, Ame Voleur came in two basic brands: spirits that preyed on Qi (usually souls left unsent for too long), or people who upset the balance of Qi. The Memories were definitely not dead, and they didn't even seem to use Qi, so he didn't see how they fit into either category.

Despite the now sober move, though, he couldn't help but give her an odd look--Etsu looked patently ridiculous wearing sunglasses, especially as it was night. Anyone who saw her right now would immediately think she was suspicious. Or at best, just silly.

He led her outside; of course, there was once place he could guarantee they wouldn't be overheard. He pointed out behind the clinic, towards the hill he often climbed. It was hard to see people who were up there, and they'd be able to see anyone coming long before they were in earshot.