a few days later

"We're... what?" The freeloaders ask. Eyre takes a sip of her oolong tea, then sets the cup down before answering.

"We're going to the Dead Sea." She answers plainly.  Everyone seems to jump at the idea, Yona's eyes sparkling. Although, Yun raises a questioning eyebrow at Eyre.

"We as in who?"

"Everyone in this room."

Zenopicks up his cheer, jumping on Jea-ha's back. Hak silently fist pumps to himself, grinning. Shin-ah silently claps, an excitable expression plastered on despite his mask. Kija merely blinks blankly.

"We're leaving the apartment?" He wonders and the ravenette nods her head.

"The country, to be honest."

"How many days of travel will it take?"

"How much food do we need to pack?"

"It's hot there, right? What about the nights?"

Questions and more bombard the poor girl, and her head begins to spin.

Days..? Food...? What are we, swimming there?

"A-Around 15 hours? I'm sure there's food on the jet..." Eyre trails odd. Everyone seems to consume the girl with eyes of curiosity and wonder. Enough to pressure her. Eyre shrinks back into her seat, drinking her tea albeit more quickly than before. Of course, doing so is painful.

Kija picks up on her feeling of discomfort. Without a word, he steps back; everyone else follows suit upon noticing.

"At any rate, we leave tomorrow. Harper's on her business trip, so she of course will not be with us. When Harper took you guys out to the mall, did you go swimsuit shopping?" Hak's face grows grim, and everyone can see him itching to grab his spear. Unfortunately, it's all wrapped up and stored away in Harper's apartment Harper's apartment.

I suppose that much should answer my question...

"So long as you guys are ready to leave tomorrow morning, I'm fine with just about anything."

~*~

Needless to say, the jet ride was both relaxing and a nightmare. The first four hours were filled with screams. That was basically it. They keep screaming and screaming and screaming.

"WHAT IS THIS"

"OH MY GOD ARE WE FLYING"

"JEA-HA, ZENO FOUND YOUR BROTHER"

"HAK MY EARS HURT CAN YOU HEAR ME"

"EYRE ARE YOU SURE THIS IS SAFE"

"HOW LONG IS THIS TRANSPORTATION OF HELL"

By that time, Eyre had given up on answering as calmly as possible. Her head was starting to spin, with the help of the altitude. Occasional turbulence wasn't aiding her interrogation, too. Things start to quiet down as soon as Eyre decided to take a quick nap (She passed out).

Kija immediately takes notice of Eyre's state of peace. He shushes everyone, eyes albeit narrowed with an aura of warning. They immediately quiet, and then form a circle, just as they used to do back when we were travelling. Eyre formed a system of discipline with everyone then.

"I call for a meeting on what to do with Eyre." Yun declares and everyone nods their head.

"Kija.. Do you know what you're going to do?" Yona asks, her knees folded up close to her chest. She looks at the said person, worry seeping through her facial expression. Everyone keeps steady eyes on him, waiting for a response.

Kija's eyes widen, a heavy feeling in his chest. It's almost as if water is seeping into his lung, weighing him down and drowning him profusely. He can feel the pressure, his head feeling faint. It's only a feeling; nothing passes through his mind.

"Kija?" Yona tries once more, her voice softer as she tries a more comforting approach.

Kija snaps to his senses.

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing comes to mind. He has no plan, nothing to say, not even a mere idea which Yun could turn into something new and fool-proof. Kija was consumed with being near Eyre upon figuring out the situation; so much that he hasn't given the future much thought.

"I..." The Hakuryuu's voice cracks. "I honestly have no idea."His right hand recalls a sharp pain (though not one strong enough for him to voice his discomfort.)

Hak's frown deepens, but Jea-ha stands with a carefree smile.

"Well, we've only been here for a short while. It's not like we can do much, y'know?" He assures and Zeno furiously nods his head, grinning. Ao jumps onto Kija's shoulder, pushing an acorn to his cheek in attempt to make him eat it. Kija tries for a smile, softly ruffling the squirrel's head in thanks.

"Thank you, everyone.." Kija say, letting out a breath of relief. The pain leaves.

"Maybe the kid should cook a lot to remind Eyre about what we ate in Kouka!" Zeno suggests, raising his arm in the air. Yun sighs, his arms folded across his chest.

"I thought of that, but I have no idea how to use this world's kitchen. Maybe if Eyre were to teach me, but she's always so busy. Eyre's told me that Harper is known to burn kitchens, so I don't think asking her would be wise."

Yona looks to Yun, "What about asking Chiyuki?"

Yun's jaw drops, then forms to a small scowl. "No way! Just because she thinks she's better than me at cooking..."

Jea-ha rolls his eyes, standing up to get a drink from one of the mini fridges in the jet. "It's been a week since we've seen the little lady, Yun-kun. And besides, you were hardly able to use the stove in your small cook-off. Don't you think you should let it go?"

Flames seem to surround Yun as he glares a hole through the plane. "No way."

Everyone backs up, "A-alright.." they mutter simultaneously.

"If anything... I don't we should... act different around her." Shin-ah comments, everyone listening intently. Yona smiles widely.

"You're right! That'll be best for all of us!"

"Yeah, but don't push everything onto Eyre. You can't act all clingy around her, hime-sama." He teases. Yona puffs her cheeks, "I do not!" Hak chuckles.

"Hak-kun's only saying that to watch some more Spongebob with the miss!" Zeno says, his eyes closed as he toothlessly smiles.

Suddenly, Eyre begins to stir. Kija's eyes dart to her awakening figure; he then shushes everyone as they turn their heads in confusion.

"She's waking up." He warns, their eyes widening.

"What?! But our meetin-"

"Yun! Hush!!"

"Hime-sama, you have no right to speak."

"Wait, how did you-?"

Eyre's eyes crack open and everyone shuts their mouth.

"H-how was your sleep?" Kija asks Eyre. She immediately holds a hand to her head, groaning in pain.

"I think I passed out..."

"You did... We were all a bit too annoying..."

"Sorry, miss!" Zeno says, not looking the least bit apologetic. Eyre takes out her phone in her pocket, checking to see how much time had passed.

Hak tosses Kija a bottle of water (more so chucking it.) Kija opens it before handing it to Eyre to drink. She nods her head in thanks, taking a quick sip before the exhaustion leaves her face. With a happy sigh, she turns her attention to everyone.

"What's up with the pow wow?" She asks, letting out a quick laugh. Everyone scramble to their feet, patting off imaginary dust from their clothes with a comical, blank look. Kija stifles a laugh with his hand.

"Well, we have a little bit over 10 hours before getting to our final destination." She takes a remote by her hand, clicking a button. A small television lowers from the ceiling.

"Care to watch something?"

three months later

Three months has passed by. Eyre had taken everyone on little trips across the globe, maybe a few days every other week so that she wouldn't mess with her studying schedule (her college is on its summer break.) Harper would tag along at times, Chiyuki on rare occasions.

Chiyuki's work started to become time consuming because of her recent popularity, but that's mainly because producers want to take her before work time becomes limited during the school year.

Yun had just barely gotten used to using the kitchen, and everyone's nerves were calmed down. Eyre seemed to smile more.

Unfortunately, silent days are the most boring. Chiyuki would be off at work; Eyre and Harper are off with business to do (sometimes they're gone for more than half the day.) Everyone's picked up a habit.

Eyre gave Yona permission to enter her room; Yona picks up time to try on different clothes or make up (Yun would join in at times) just like the old days.

Shin-ah took a liking to going to parks and observing the small bits of wildlife. The animals aren't as abundant or vicious as the ones back in Kouka, but they're enough for our bluenette.

Of course, Jea-ha tags along with Shin-ah at time to scope out women (and men), flirting nonstop like usual. Some things just never change.

Kija refuses immediately with the thought of bugs in mind, instead taking jogs with Hak up and down the hills of San Francisco. Everyone wasn't walking miles and miles a day like they used to back in Kouka.

    All in all, it's boring.

This is what will become of humans with restrictions. They all know it. But it won't be long before Eyre will- hopefully- remember everything.

~~~

is this, officially, the worst filler chapter ever. im sorry if it feels like its getting worse and worse. i truly promise that things ship off by next chapter

-when chiyuki and yun had another cooking contest, yun set the kitchen on fire. either on purpose or on accident, we may never know...

-in the first book, eyre promised yona, yun, kija, and hak that she will one day take them to the dead sea upon everyone seeing a port town (awa) for the first time. she kept her promise.

-kija didnt think he would encounter any bugs on his first visit through a park. his first time eventually became his last when he came across a massive hornet's nest.