The Equation of Hearts

√𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟺𝟽ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـﮩ

He finished praying and took her jacket, hopping up into a tree and placing the two coats on the top of a tree by the hoods. She was climbing up behind him and saw how comfortably natural he seemed to stay perched on the tree. His leg hooked around the trunk and the other making sure he didn't slip. He made it look easy. She was almost jealous, as he slid down and dropped onto a sturdy branch near to her eye level. She looked at him and dropped down alongside him.

"What if we lose the tree?" She tilted her head.

"I promise you, we won't." He nodded and she just had to take his word for it. After a brief silence, she broke off into a sprint and slid under a branch. She turned to look back and saw him only just walking to keep up with her, she felt shivers down her spine,

"Dude stop! You're like a serial killer from those movies," she laughed nervously and she pushed herself to run faster. She heard his softened footsteps and turned around to see him jogging after her, she nearly screamed. Was he always so terrifying? No! "Stop!" She laughed genuinely, his teasing was so discreet, it barely felt like teasing. But she heard him laugh and though she found her heart giving a burning sensation from his laugh, she just continued sprinting and laughing with him.

She was blindly running, until she found a clearing and looked around. He was nowhere to be seen. She didn't realise he had vanished because she was so occupied with the sounds of her own, calm breathing and the thumping of her boots. But he had vanished. Even as she calmed down and listened, not even the trees rustled. She spun around and tried to catch a glimpse of blue,

"Uh... Kato?" She called, looking around. No response, though that was on par of him. So she looked around for a sign of him. "Kato!" She yelled, she heard it echo and birds close by flew off at the sound of her. Her ears twitched and she felt the hairs on her arm stand, it was as if she was hunting.

But so was he.

She began crouching low and looking amongst the branches, then across the floor for a trace of him, "I know you're nearby!" She frowned. No response at all. The moon had reached apex. It was officially midnight. Not 00:00, but the middle of the night cycle. She looked up at it for a moment, then at the sensation of something urging her to look left, her head whipped in that direction. There wasn't anything for a moment, then the glint of Kato's boot brace, he sprinted towards her from within the bushes and she vaulted over him. He shot past and stumbled, rolling and landing on his back with his legs in a bush, "hah! Got you!" She cheered and laughed as he looked up at her and smiled truly,

"Good job," he closed his eyes with his smile and she dragged him out of the bush, "that was great, I admire that." He whispered and pulled himself up. "You're just as outstanding as I remember." He faced her.

"Okay stop. Firstly, we have never met before but you keep saying we have. Not that I care." She mumbled and held onto his wrists, "secondly, stop praising me, I can't handle it." She confessed and begrudgingly muttered. Kato pulled her closer and swallowed her into a hug, where he rocked with her and squeezed her,

"Maybe Irū will explain it better than I do," he wondered as she carefully hugged back.

"Explain what?"

"All the reasons why you, Cassandra, should hate me." He pointed at her and then to himself. But then he poked into her sides and she yelped, "you're it." He suddenly vanished and she looked behind her. He was running off again.

"Cheater!" She yelled and sprinted after him. He rushed down the mountain and she followed along, they were following a stream. But when Kato used a tree as a pivot, she nearly found herself rolling down the hill at the surprise. But he briefly pulled her back and when she tried to grab him, he had already vanished. She sprinted after him, "damn you! Were you raised in the woods or something!?" She exclaimed and hopped over a shrub in the way,