Whenever he recalled how their relations.h.i.+p has turned into a more s.e.xual one, Rhys would curse himself. There was nothing wrong with how things were before. Why did he not patiently court her?

Patiently courting, huh? As if he could do something like that. 

A flash of brown appeared in his head. Then again, if that person could do it, why can"t he?

Rhys knew that was a weak argument since he differs from Kazuya. What use is there comparing... He paused in mid-thought when he realized something, now that he thought about it.

Lyn rolled her eyes. "First of all, you have to tell me what you were doing. But I guess you don"t have to explain." She walked over to him, and he felt her arms wrap around his neck. 

Rhys wrapped his arms around her waist, but the girl puffed her cheeks. "It seems you did not miss me very much." She mumbled.

Oh dear, why is she doing this to him? She is adorable right now. Rhys had conflicting feelings right now. Lyn is gradually getting more and more attached to him. He does like the idea of that, but is it okay? If Lyn gets too attached, what would happen to Kazuya? 

That is a stupid question. Lyn already broke up with Kazuya, so why on earth is he acting so concerned for his friend? Still, he has to admit that he likes Lyn when she acts childish around him. 

It makes me feel that she trusts me.

Rhys knew that thought was very naive of him. But ever since his feelings for Lyn grew. Rhys realized it was far too late for him to go back to normal. He already made plans on how to steal her away. He already made the arrangements; all he has to do is get Lyn to agree. He knew Lyn was not the type of person who would agree to such an arrangement unless she was in love with him. This will be a race against time.

Kazuya keeps delaying his leaving date. If he keeps this up any longer, then those people from the Sound Kingdom would personally drag Kazuya back. Rhys does not want Lyn to see that sight. 

But Rhys knew why Kazuya was doing this. His friend is trying to delay their orders to attack the Mist Kingdom. Initially, the meet up in January involved them both returning so they could report everything and prepare for the fight. That changed when Kazuya started to go out with Lyn. Instead of that plan, they decided among them that only one should go. If anything happened, the other one would be able to take Lyn away and protect her.

In the end, Rhys brought Lyn to the spot he mentioned. The second they arrived, Rhys could not miss how crowded it was. It"s probably a good thing he came here disguised. Coming to this spot with a girl as himself would make the headlines. It would be a huge scandal. Then again, it seems like everybody knows about Lyn and him now.

"Wow..."

"Everything"s peach-colored."

Indeed the branches were filled with nothing but a mixture of pale orange and pink. "It is so beautiful..." Lyn muttered.

Rhys could not help but stare at Lyn. Why does she suddenly look even more beautiful than before? Lyn did not wear anything special. In fact, he a.s.sumed she probably rushed to come here based on what little clothing she wore. 

"Cherry blossoms are pretty, but so are peach blossoms," Mari said.

"Good job."

Gee, what"s with these two and their strange comments?

Rhys reaches over and extends his hand out to touch the blossom. "Peach blossoms are so small, round, and cute. They"re just like you." He said.

 Lyn pulled a poker face at that comment, "I am neither small nor cute."

He formerly had such thoughts before. There is nothing remotely cute about this stubborn and reckless girl. But the more time he spent with her, the more he realized.

"Ah, but weren"t you in a small ball shape earlier?"

"Lyn curls up into a ball shape when she is sad." A small voice suddenly said.

Is that so... Eh, wait where did that voice come from? 

"Psst over here."

That was when he spotted the girls white scarf wrapped around her neck. No, it"s not a scarf, on closer inspection, it was an animal.

"-fox?" Rhys said, surprised. Seldom anything surprised him these days, even Lyn acting cute and clingy. But now he could not hide his shock. What on earth is happening here?

Lyn immediately hushed him by covering his mouth with her hands. "Ss.h.!.+ Be quiet. What if someone hears you?" she trails off. "It would be bad for me."

Well yeah, the strange flying pixies beside him is one thing. But bringing a dangerous animal is pus.h.i.+ng it. As much as Rhys wanted to scold her, he had other things to focus on. This position for one. Does this silly girl have any id-- his thoughts broke off when he saw the girl"s look.

No, it was not her eyes. But the red color on her cheeks. Rhys could not believe it. "Hey…" Rhys spoke up nervously. "Could I hold your hand and shamelessly treat this as a date?"

Not once in his life has he ever said anything so shameless and stupid before. But this girl makes him do very strange things. Lyn laughed softly but grabbed hold of his hand. His eyes widened at the contact.

"Well, I guess we could since we are here anyway."

She did not say yes exactly, but this was more than enough confirmation for him.