As soon as she had spoken the words, Hikari regretted them. Sure, it might be true. Maybe it was even likely... But it wasn't what she wanted. Not really. It was truly just her stating what she was afraid might happen, and perhaps what she thought he wanted her to say. Normally it might have been her own thoughts or desire, but for whatever reason, this time that thought left a lingering feeling of regret.<br/><br/>Still, she supposed she couldn't take the words back, and if she tried explaining herself now she would probably look like a bumbling idiot, or at least a stupid girl. Perhaps it wouldn't be the end of the world if she did, but she couldn't bring herself to open her mouth again. Instead she fell silent for a time before she managed to allow herself to wonder if perhaps it could work out some way or another. Who knows.<br/><br/>When the words left her lips and she glanced down his way, her eyes met his for a brief moment before they both looked away and she felt her cheek burn red. How odd. Why? Why did she feel like this? Truthfully, she didn't even really know how she felt, but that in itself was unusual. She mentally cursed herself for getting caught smiling at him. Why had she been smiling at him anyways? Uggh. Why was this even an issue? Why was it confusing? Why did she care? Wait... Did she care?<br/><br/>She, once again, wanted to crawl out of her skin, to run and just keep on running. The silence hung thick in the cool night air and for once that only made things worse. It took every single ounce of self control she had not to get up and run, or to sprout wings and fly away, to try to escape from these feelings, whatever they were. She couldn't help squirming a little where she sat as she fought not to jump to her feet under the weight of all of the thoughts and feelings that swirled inside and the voice inside telling her to run before she got in any deeper, before she risked her heart.<br/><br/>As she squirmed, seemingly winning the battle within herself, or at least not quite losing, she caught movement on the edges of her vision as Kuro stood and she glanced his way as he spoke. Was that uncertainty in his voice? She wasn't sure. But what she did know was that he was running away, just as she wanted to. Was it for the same reason? She dared not hope for such a thing. And yet she did. At the very least she couldn't help but wonder.<br/><br/>Why did she have this feeling in the pit of her stomach as she watched him run away? She fought for several moments to keep herself still, to keep from going after him. "Damn it." she cursed to herself before she found herself moving without even thinking. She jumped to her feet, gathered both of their things, and took off after him. She ran faster than she had in a long time. Why was she doing this? Why had her body seemingly moved on its own? She still had no answers to any of these questions.<br/><br/>Before she knew it she was at the end of the forest, her breaths coming in short pants. She was quiet for a long moment, catching her breath and watching as he stared up at the sky. She didn't know why, but she couldn't bring herself to move, either to step out in the moonlight and face him or to run away from him and everything else. She took note of the horns that sat on the edge of his brow, but it was of little consequence at the moment, so she didn't dwell on it.<br/><br/>When he moved deeper into the field, taking a seat on a rock, she hesitated. He wanted to be alone. She knew that. She should respect that and leave him alone, let him have his quiet time. She clenched her fists and considered just leaving and letting him be. He'd run for a reason, after all. Yet some part of her wanted him to know that she hadn't really meant what she'd said before. That it wasn't how she really felt. That for once she actually hoped that she was wrong. Why was this so hard?<br/><br/>She sighed lightly to herself, hesitating to speak and finally deciding not to. She wanted to, yet she was afraid to. She didn't want to seem like some foolish girl. Instead she stood silently on the edge of the forest, watching him relax in the moonlight, giving him the silence she thought he wanted. At any rate, she thought that the moonlight kind of suited him. He looked kind of peaceful and...<span style="font-style: italic">Nope, not going there again.</span>She mentally slapped herself before she followed that train of thought any further.