Crimson Star Priestess

Late Night Showdown

I tucked the children into bed, but it was mainly Kokoro and Hikari. The boys didn't want to be tucked in because they thought it was embarrassing for their age. They claimed they were too old to be tucked in, so they wanted to be big "guys" who could go to bed by themselves.

"What are you going to sing?" Hikari asked curiously.

"Well...it's a short lullaby I learned a couple years ago." I explained as I sat down at the edge of Kokoro's bed.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before singing a song from one of my favorite anime in a soft voice.

"Apple" By Yoko Hikasa and Yui Horie

"Ringo wa ukanda osora ni

Ringo wa okkochita jibeta ni

Hoshi ga umarete uta ga umarete

Ruru ameru wa waratta tokoshie to

Hoshi ga kisu shite uta ga nemutte

Kaeru doko wa doko deshou

Kaeru doko wa doko deshou?

Ringo wa okkochita jibeta ni

Ringo wa ukanda osora ni"

I opened my eyes and saw that the children had quickly fallen asleep. I couldn't resist the urge to smile and gently caressed Kokoro's head. I quietly walked out of the hut and joined the others who looked at me with smiles on their faces.

"I had no idea you could sing Estelle." Blitz commented. "You're good."

"Thank you." I blushed shyly as I sat down by the campfire.

"How come we've never heard you sing before?" Rally asked.

"I sang whenever you weren't at Yusei's place." I admitted as I played with a curl of my hair. "I...feel a bit embarrassed if I sing in front of people because I don't have the confidence to sing good."

"You should sing more openly; you're good." Nervin told me.

I blushed modestly as I waved my hand. "We'll see about that."

"It's getting late." Yusei suddenly said, breaking up the conversation. "We should go to bed too."

I didn't realize how tired I was until he mentioned that. I got up and rolled my sleeping bag out to get comfortable on the ground. The others followed my lead and started rolling their sleeping bags out.

"Yeah, good night." Nervin nodded as he crawled into the bag.

"And sleep tight! See ya in the mornin'!" Tank added loudly.

"Quiet!" I shushed him while placing a index finger against my lips. "The children will wake up."

"Oops, sorry." Tank laughed sheepishly. "I'm just worried 'bout the Dark Signers and-"

"Good night, Tank!" Blitz said with a tone that meant "shut-up already".

I crawled into my bag and removed my glasses that I put on top of my satchel right next to my head. If I recall correctly, Yusei would try to sneak away to face the Dark Signers alone and Crow would intercept him. I had to wake up when that would happen so I could go with them. I wasn't going to allow Yusei to do something so reckless by himself.

I was sleeping deeply when I was awakened by Rally's cry of panic with a jolt, pulling me out of the land of dreams.

"WAKE UP! YUSEI IS GONE!"