When the door finally opened it was, once again, not Kuro who answered the door, but Ryuu. "Hello, Ryuu." She greeted him with a sweet and friendly smile, hiding the hint of disappointment she felt somewhere inside. She had avoided getting her hopes up too much, so she wasn't too disappointed, but she would be lying if she said that she wasn't still a little disappointed. Still, she didn't let this show at all in her features as she greeted the younger boy. She didn't miss the sympathetic smile he gave her and she was certain that she knew exactly what he was thinking. "You must think I'm crazy, huh?" She asked with a smile.  "I guess most people would." She chuckled a little to herself and shrugged. "I can't really explain why I care so much about him. Maybe it's because he's a lot like me and I can understand him better than most." She shrugged but didn't expound upon this statement. "Or maybe it's something else entirely." She smiled lightly and, once again, didn't clarify her meaning.<br/><br/>"Whatever the reason... There's one thing you should know about me..." She paused and looked up at the sky for a moment before looking back at him with a friendly, but determined smile as she spoke. "I never give up on people I care about." She smiled sweetly, the determined look lingering in her gaze. "Giving up and letting go never were my strong suits." She smiled once more before falling silent. She knew that it was quite possible that she would end up getting hurt because she let herself get too close, but she had come to terms with that, and for whatever reason, she didn't care. At least not right now. Perhaps she would regret it later, but she was choosing to follow Asami's advice for once. She'd always told her, if you are going to regret something, regret the thing you did, not the things you didn't do.<br/><br/>After a brief silence Ryuu took a deep breath and she tilted her head to the side ever so slightly as he blushed and asked if she'd like to go to the festival with him. She felt bad saying no, and he was nice and all... She probably wouldn't mind hanging out with him sometime, but... She had wanted to go to the festival with Kuro. She really wasn't that interested in going if it wasn't with him. Besides, it would be a little weird going with his brother, even if he wasn't around. It would kind of feel like she was trading one brother in for the other. Not to mention that she would feel bad because she knew that even if she ended up having some fun with him, the whole time she would be wishing it was Kuro instead. It wouldn't be fair to him and it wouldn't feel right. If she couldn't go with Kuro, she'd honestly rather just stay home.<br/><br/>All of these thoughts went through her mind in a fraction of a second before she replied, choosing her words carefully. "Sorry, Ryuu, but I can't." She replied with a somewhat apologetic smile. "I had hoped to go with Kuro, so it probably wouldn't be a good idea." She paused for a moment before smiling lightly. "But maybe we can hang out some other day." She offered with a friendly smile, hoping he understood. After waiting for his response she spoke up again. "If you see him, will you let him know that I stopped by?" She asked before smiled and turning to leave, waving at him over her shoulder. "See you later, Ryuu!" And with that she headed off down the street.<br/><br/>She strolled through the streets of the village on her way back to her apartment, her mind briefly wandering to what she might do today. Just as she'd made up her mind to spend the day at home, alone, she heard a voice call out from behind her. She tilted her head and tossed a glance over her shoulder to find a shorter girl with light-colored hair running towards her from one of the shops, waving as she did. "Hikariiiiiiii!" The girl practically squeaked as she ran towards her before nearly knocking her to the ground as she attached herself to Hikari in what could only be described as a tackle-hug. Hikari managed to regain her balance, if only barely, her eyes going wide for a moment as she fought to regain her balance before finally giving the girl a small hug. "Hey, Hotaru." She greeted the girl with a friendly smile as Hotaru finally released her from her grip and took a step back, smiling brightly.<br/><br/>Behind Hotaru a dark haired boy approached and stopped, giving a little wave and a small smile, "Hey, Hikari." He greeted her in a much calmer manner, "Hey, Rin." She returned the greeting with a smile and a slight wave. "What are you two doing here?" She asked curiously, tilting her head to the side ever so slightly. "We're heading to the festival!" Hotaru replied in her usual chipper voice. "Want to come with us?" She asked as though it was simply a passing offer she'd only just thought of, but her eyes practically begged Hikari to join them.<br/><br/>Hikari rubbed the back of her neck somewhat nervously before she responded, "I don't think so. I did some pretty intense training this morning so I'm pretty beat. I think I'm just going to stay home tonight." She replied with an answer that was at least mostly true. She had done a lot of training this morning, including some intense training on some new techniques, and she hadn't slept much lately, although she pretty much always ran on very little sleep, even on tough missions that required a great deal more focus and effort than a festival would. Still, she didn't like being around a lot of people on a normal day, let alone now. Had it been Kuro, she would have gone in a heartbeat, but that was different. Everything was different with him. She felt a little bad saying no. They were her friends, after all. Still, she thought that they probably expected her to say no anyways. After all, Hotaru had been trying to get her to go for years.<br/><br/>Hotaru gave a small pouty face before shrugging. "I thought so. But it was worth a shot." She replied with a smile, apparently not too disappointed by the answer she'd gotten. "I'll get you to go one day!" Hotaru declared before she began to walk past Hikari. "We should probably get going. Get some rest, okay?" She gave a smile and a wave as she took a few more steps and Rin followed suit. Just as Hikari began to walk away, however, Hotaru stopped, glancing back at her. "Hey, Hikari?" She called back to her. "You seem.... different. Happier... brighter, even..." She tilted her head as she examined her friend. "It's nice to see you happy for a change." She smiled sweetly before a hint of mischief crept into her expression. "You didn't find yourself a boyfriend and not tell me about it... did you?" She asked somewhat coyly, a mischievous smile spreading across her face.<br/><br/>Hikari stared somewhat dumbfounded at her, unsure how to respond. "What?" She finally managed to spit the surprised words out. "N-No. Why would you think that?" She asked fighting to keep the pink from coloring her cheeks as images of Kuro flashed through her mind and she suddenly remembered that night, or more specifically, that kiss. It wasn't a lie. He wasn't her boyfriend. She didn't even really know how he felt. It wasn't like they'd talked about what had happened, or what it meant. At any rate, she honestly wasn't even positive how she felt at this point. So why... why did she feel an ache somewhere inside when she thought about all of this?<br/><br/>Hotaru studied her expression with slighty narrowed eyes, but even in this state, Hikari was as unreadable as ever. "I don't know. They say that a woman in love becomes even more radiant and beautiful than before. And as long as I've known you, I've never seen you seem really and truly happy." She tilted her head before shrugging. "But maybe it's just my imagination." she smiled a little. "Anyways, see ya!" And with that she and Rin walked off, soon disappearing around a corner and heading down the road that lead towards the festival.<br/><br/>Hikari stood there in something of a daze for a long moment. Love? No, that couldn't be it. It was far to early to be brandishing words like that around. At any rate, she'd never put much stock in love. She couldn't even really tell you if she believed in love. At least love like the stories and fairy tales. Even if she did, she'd never really thought that it was something she'd ever experience for herself. But did she really seem that much different? She turned her gaze up toward the sky and stared at the clouds for a moment. "Is it... because of you?" She wondered aloud to no one in particular before her gaze returned to the road in front of her and she turned to head back towards her home, her mind swirling with too many thoughts. She felt even more confused about her feelings now than she had before, and yet... She also felt an odd sense clarity that she hadn't felt before. Strange.