Is my love any less valuable than theirs?

"We can not ignore the beastlings for too long. You must come with me. My cousins have planned a welcome party for us." She wanted to make an excuse but couldn't come up with something good. She could say she was tired and wanted to sleep, but he knew very well she slept most of the way.

She nodded and he smiled victoriously. She then realized he had changed into their traditional yukata. A dark blue one with black embroidery. Since she has come here, she has seen finest embroidery ever. Her fingers twitched to feel the art of thread on his yukata but she refrained from it.

"You can go ahead, Ikigai." She looked up and noticed how his gaze was on her fingers understanding her wishes. His observation made her accept the fact that he belonged with something so dangerous. Her first thought was to refuse his offer but her curiosity got the better of her.

She moved her hand towards his cuff but his hand captured hers, guiding it till it rested on the fabric over his hard, muscled chest. He took a deep breath which made his muscles wave under her touch and she felt every slightest movement under her palm.

This made her feel warmth behind her ears, the feeling so bizarre that she snatched her hand away, embroidery long forgotten.

"I asked them to make the gathering American style, so you could be more comfortable." Him mentioning the name of her home, made her ask him. "Where is Ava and the child?" At her serious tone his smile neutralized and he sat back down cross legged with a huff.

"She is where she should be. She is safe." His tone wasn't pleasant for her. "Safe with who?" She asked sternly at which he replied. "With Salvatore." He expected some sort of reaction if not at outburst from her, but got nothing but a nod.

"Do you think he will protect her?" At her light tone he have a soft smile and scooted closer to her. "He will, over his own life." Despite his restraints, his hand moved on it's own towards her face to cup her cheek. To feel the softness he has secretly felt on their way here.

She looked at his extending hand and glared at him, which made him stop in his track. "He hit her, he made her bleed. He hurt her so much, she tried to kil..." Tsuda's focus on her expressions made him realize she was getting down the lane of rage.

"He made a mistake and he is very sorry for what he has done. Even God gives a second chance, why can't you?" He tried to pursue her to let go of her hatred. "It's Ava he has wronged. Who am I to give a second chance?" He nodded at that.

"And it's Ava who has chosen to trust him. Do you have so little faith in her?" Words were one of his best pursuits and anyone could tell why. She hummed in reply.

"Look at the time it's getting dark soon. We must go now." He made her follow him, but before that he made sure she was fully covered in sweaters and top it all off with a jacket. She didn't have the verbal strength to stop him or fight, so she had let him be.

"Oh! You guys are here. Come come the barbeque is almost ready." One of the female cousins said while waving at them with one hand and flipping a pattie on the grill from the other. He had made all the servants free from the chores of the party because all of the cousins were supposed to do it.

The house had an open side which touched the forest directly. And there were lanterns and fairy lights around one opening to the forest. A banner hung and the head of it, which has 'Maze Gunner' written on it. She found it amusing and funny to some extent.

"Winner gets one of my watches." Tsuda whispered in her ear, his closeness made her flinch. "Let's eat first." He took her to the benches around the camp fire and sat her there. "I'll be right back with your food." He knew her likings and dislikings when it comes to food by some means.

She sat alone, observing others. She noticed a man constantly staring at her. Whom she recalled was named Arata. Everyone talked to her and Tsuda nicely and excitedly, but Arata she observed had been cut away from Tsuda. Almost avoident.

A female cousin sat down beside her and started talking. She replied at her best to her and she seemed satisfied. She noticed how Avery looked in the direction of Arata and told her. "He and Tsuda were best friends. They were inseparable, always sticking together. Rising havoc together and causing problems for almost everyone." Avery nodded in reply.

"But something happened near the end of their high school. Something that tore them apart. They never speak of it, to each other or anyone else." Avery realized she had to say something at this point.

"I hope it gets resolved, so they can get back together." The cousin nodded and that and added. "Just like before." She huffed and looked at Arata with a sad smile.

"Scramble." Tsuda told the cousin teasingly, from behind their bench. She laughed giving him a sassy reply and left. "Are they bothering you too much?" He asked sitting beside her, while handing her a plate holding burgers and barbequed meat. "No." She answered eyeing her plate. "I can't eat this much." She confessed.

"I know, this is for both of us. There weren't enough plates on the counter. Share with me." She looked at the pile of dishes and plates on the counter, gritting her teeth. She handed him the plate and said, "You can keep it." She stood up and brought back her own plate and two cans of drinks.

For a moment she considered sitting with his cousins, but leaving him alone would have been too rude after what he has done for her. So she sat back with him handing him a can. He smiled, thanking her as he took it from her.

"You're very rigid one moment, but become soft suddenly. You are very unexpected." Rather than replying to him she took a bite out of her food.

After they were done all the kids were sent to sleep. While adults were left outside. "Wanna try the maze now? Maybe you'll get to have my watch." She looked at her hands thinking about him and Arata, wanting to know what happened to them.

"Instead of the watch, I want to know something." He put his hand on the back of the back beside her neck and replied. "You can ask anything anyway." She shook her head. "Only if I win." He looked at her for a while and smirked slightly.

"Deal." They both went to the entrance to hand them the money to enter the tournament. "You are the heirs of Hamasaki clan and still suck money out of me?" At Tsuda's complain one of his nephews in his teenage replied.

"I'll treat my girlfriend to something good with it. By the way uncle, you are the next leader of the clan, still complaining to give away few yen?" Avery coughed covering her laugh at them. They were a chaos, beastlings Tsuda had called them, at which she agreed.

She looked up and saw Tsuda staring at her, with eyes she was never going to be able to forget. They held... adoration. She looked away quickly.

"Take this, the fee. And take this for doing a good deed." Tsuda handed him a stack of cash, at which the boy cheered. Avery felt warmth deep in her stomach and suddenly the wind wasn't as chilly anymore. Avoid his eyes, avoid his eyes, avoid.. She was chanting in her head. And Tsuda being himself noticed everything about her.

They got slightly away from the small crowd and Tsuda held her wrist slightly. "Look at me." He whispered at which she tried to get further away, hiding her reddening face. Refusing to let her go he encaged her other wrist too. "Ikigai, look in my eyes. Let me see you." Before she could decide to comply or to refuse, they were split apart by the cousins to go inside the forest.

She thanked the God that it was their rule to let each one go in solo. She went in and found a track created as a maze, spreading across the forest. They each had a whistle to blow in need of rescue, but they will be eliminated right away. And there was a hunting squad roaming inside the maze. If you get caught by them, you're to be eliminated right away.

The main aim was to get to the centre of the maze, where a jewel is kept. They had to take it out successfully and give it to their rightful owner. Only then will they be considered the winner. She encountered dead ends many times, walking forward she faced challenges, like crossing a bearly intact bridge over ice cold river.

She had been in there for hours, as she kept walking towards a challenge after another. It looked more like a military training ground rather than a friendly challenge. She saw a sign ahead of her saying 'zombie zone'. She huffed in frustration because she hated zombies.

She walked into the zone and felt an eerie silence following her. She looked behind and saw a horrifying half rotten face inching closer to her own. She shrieked and without thinking swung a hard punch on the face. The zombie grunted and fell down. And she ran without looking back.

She realized she had made a sound, which would probably attract the hunting squad to her. Unlike her, she stumbled and fell face down on the leaves. This made her look and she saw the golden box keeping the jewel, it laid few feet across the root she stumbled on.

She snatched it off the ground and hugged it to her chest. Her struggle to reach out before getting caught by the hunting squad, made her mistakenly step on trap. With a woosh she was up in the air by her feet, upside down. An alarm started ringing next to her, notifying the hunting squad.

She cursed and scratched the rope around her ankle but couldn't get free. The steps of hunting squad, coming from afar was heard and she thought about giving up. Suddenly the ground rose with all leaves and dirt and a face was revealed to her.

She gasped as she realized it was Tsuda, who was a part of the ground just a moment ago. "You look good upside down too." He cut her rope with a knife in seconds and pulled her away. "It's here, someone is caught here!" The voices made her thing it was over but tsuda pushed her down covering her up with himself. They were once again a part of the ground.

"Are you wearing a fucking ghillie?" She whispered at which he hushed her with a finger on her lips. They were still for a few moments and heard the squad searching for them. Out of nowhere his touch on her lips started to be something more than a means for silence.

He smoothly slid lower till he was on eye level with her. With both hands bracketing her to keep his weight off of her, he looked in her eyes, holding sparkle of desire in them.

They were like this for a few moments, before slowly his gaze slid down to her lips and it turned from sparkle to full on blaze. He started lowering himself down making her hitch her breath, in fear of facing what she lied to herself about all this time. That she wanted him.