Ballard of Fallen Angels and Shadow

Consequences of a Late Night Date

Tokoyami leads Reika into the park. He hasn't spoken a word to her. Even Dark Shadow stayed silent. "Where are we going, Fumi?" Reika asked as she followed him, still holding her hand. He didn't answer her. "I know I have a lot of explaining to do but you don't have to give me the silent treatment and the cold shoulder at the same time." She pouted.

"Apologies, Dove. I just have...a lot on my mind." He said as he gently squeezed her hand. He turns his head towards her as he smiles. "Beyond this point, I'm gonna have to ask you to close your eyes."

She looks at him with a confused look and a raised eyebrow, then closes her eyes. Dark Shadow looks at her then looks back at Tokoyami. "You and I both know that she would never cheat on anyone or anything. You remember what she said that night with the other girls during their meeting." He began to say.

"I know Dark Shadow. I heard what she said. It's just I-" He replied, squeezing her hand a little tighter. He feels her other hand place itself on top of his. Now she was holding his hand in both of hers.

"If the two of you are talking about Lionzo again, I told you not to worry about me being alone with him. Let's find a place to sit and I'll tell you everything." She said with her eyes still closed. She gently placed his hand on her choker. "He told me that this choker you gave me, will tell everyone that I belong to you and you alone. You have no need to worry about me cheating on you." She smiles.

He looks at her and smiles. "Nor I on you, Reika." He said. He takes her hand again and leads her to a clearing with a single Weeping Willow tree in the middle. Fireflies lighting the grass and flowers around it. Underneath the tree's bark, was a black and red blanket with a basket. "You can open your eyes now, Dove."

She opens her eyes and gasps in awe at the scenery around them. "Wow! This place is beautiful, Fumi!" She said as she walked around, admiring the scenery in front of her.

"Dark Shadow and I found this place one night while searching for you. This is one of the places we come to when we need to clear our heads from the day's events. I wanted so much to show this place to you since we found it but we couldn't find the right time to show you, until now that is." He explained as he led her to the blanket and gently set her down on it. He sat down beside her, reached into the basket and brought out a couple bottles of apple juice, handing one to her. "Shall we have a midnight snack?" He asked.

"We shall. I do have a lot to explain so we might be here a while." She said as she took the bottle of juice.

"That's fine by me." He said as he held her hand.

"I guess I should start with where I've been since leaving you to search for mom. Basically after I found proof that she was indeed gone, I was approached by the HPSC almost right after. They asked me to join them, but I refused and ran from them. I assure you I was planning to come home after finding proof. But after I was approached by them there was no way I could come home and get the four of you hurt because of me. I ran until I found a cage with a mother black wolf and her four pups in it on a truck. The side of the truck had HPSC on the side, so I knew that they captured them for something. As for what, I was too little to know or understand. But I used my feather to unlock the cage and set them free. In return for saving them, the mother wolf somehow knew human speech and told me to follow her, since then I've been a part of their pack. Lionzo is actually one of her surviving pups so he's basically another adopted brother. He and his brother and sisters helped me train with my quirk." She explained.

"So, Lionzo's family adopted you?" He asked. She nodded her head. He sighed in relief. "That's good to hear. I was afraid he was gonna take you away from me. I can't let that happen now can I." He said.

"I keep telling you that you don't need to worry about him. Anyway, over the years I've been living with the pack, they've been teaching me about the animals that have quirks. Both mother wolf and Yukihime have a quirk that allows them to communicate to humans as well as to disguise themselves as humans, as you saw with Lionzo. Without Yukihime in the room with us, You and Dark Shadow wouldn't have been able to communicate to Lionzo freely the way you did. It makes sense as to why they need Koda to help us rescue the animal at the HPSC, he's the only one of us that can communicate with animals." She explained.