I couldn't stop the nervous churning in my stomach as the three of us continued on with no real plan about what we were even going to do if we FOUND Sora. All I could really do was hope that he was safe when we did find him. He'd been gone for what felt like forever now...
I hoped he was okay...
Whether I was with or without him, it seemed that he was all I ever thought about.
After a little while, Yuto, who was leading the group in a triangle formation, suddenly came to a stop, his ears perking up, confusing Haruka and I both into a stunned pause.
"Yuto..?"

"She's early..."

"'She'...?"

The confusion only had a moment or two to settle before some branches cracked and we all turned just in time to see a familiar blonde bounding towards us.
I hardly even had time to process who she was before she threw her arms around me in an affectionate embrace.
"Ayanooooo~! Long time no see!"

"Kyoko??"

I looked to Yuto, baffled by this revelation. What was she doing here?
"I called her to come and help us. There's no way I'd be able to protect the both of you on my own! So I asked for her to help out."

Haruka gawked at the two of us, thrown entirely off guard. "So... This is..."

"Yes, this is her," I nodded gently, a vague reminder to Haruka of who Kyoko had been when I had told her everything not long before.
Kyoko pulled back slightly, just enough to look into my face. "You haven't changed a bit! Good to see you!"

"It's only been a couple weeks, hasn't it?"

"Who cares?? I missed all of you!"

Before I could even respond, the bleach blonde snapped her head towards the pup who watched from the sidelines, her curls whipping into her face as she turned.
"So you said Sora's in trouble? Tell me you at least know where he is.."

Rightー even if Kyoko had given up Sora, that didn't mean she didn't still care about him. She must've been worried sick...

"We think he might be being held captive at Yoriko's shrine," Yuto explained without missing a beat.

"Ah, that's not a surprise. That old hag would sell us all out for Verna. Selfish witch..."

Kyoko let out an annoyed huff and turned back to Haruka and I, who still weren't quite sure how to process the situation.
"So then?" She started expectantly. "You brought the humans? Is that really a good idea?"

Yuto let out a relented breath. "You try convincing those two to stay behind. It's impossible."

To put emphasis on his point, Haruka and I either crossed our arms or rested our hands on our hips, raising our brows as we looked to Kyoko, daring her to argue. She didn't seem to want to bother, rolling her clear blue eyes. "Fine. But I hope they're ready to face a whole bunch of gods."

I swallowed. Even though I already knew that, being reminded of it made my stomach drop to my knees.
But it's all for Sora...
I'm fine...
Shaking my thoughts clear, I looked to the two leaders as they started to head back in the direction of Verna's most likely locationー Yoriko's shrine.

The trek, even with the new addition, was still relatively quiet, only kept up with the occasional quip, comment, or question. We hadn't been walking for very long when Kyoko and Yuto both suddenly stopped in sync.
Haruka, looking slightly annoyed by the behavior, only leaned over to me and whispered, "How many more times are they going to slow us down with their mysterious spidey-sense?"
I only snorted and rolled my eyes in response as I watched them, wondering what it could possibly be this time.
Surprising Haruka and I both, Kyoko and Yuto began to tense, standing closer to the two of us and defensively looking around the trees like a couple of guard dogs.
Admittedly, it wasn't the most reassuring of gestures, and I could feel fear begin to twist deep down in my gut.
What is this...?
After a moment that felt like it lasted ages, an all-too-familiar voice shook the atmosphere.
"Fancy meeting you here."