Earlier in the day, As Taiyo and Aimee stepped off the lift and tried to forget about the strange occurrence they had seen in the sky it became apparent as to why the Southern Highlands were regarded as one of the most beautiful locations across Kamikochi. Unlike the dusty and dingy settlement down below them, the resting spot at the top of the cliff was unmarked by buildings or structures of any kind. As far as their eyes could see, a field of technicolored flowers stretched out in front of them, broken only by the winding path that weaved among them. As they stepped off of the small stone platform back onto stable ground, a gentle breeze carried by the nearby ocean winds rustled through the field of flowers, carrying a flurry of colorful petals off into the air and over the edge of the cliff, leaving the two of them breathless at the sight. "First time seeing it?" said the lift operator as he closed the small metal gate behind them. "The village down below calls it 'Heaven's Rain' when the flower petals fall from the sky above them, it's a beautiful place, so enjoy your stay in the Highlands!" The operator shouted as the platform began to descend again behind them, leaving the two of them in the pristine silence and beauty of the flower fields.
"I've heard about a number of Senpachi before. My dad used to tell me stories about the ones he's fought," Taiyo said as he and Aimee made their way through the endless fields, occasionally passing another traveler. "They're usually a problem for the Sentoki," Aimee replied, her voice carrying a slight edge. "Senpachi are individuals who have awakened their Mesukiro… but they don't belong to us. They reject the Sentoki and were never trained in our ways, and if one of them does choose our path… we stop calling them Senpachi altogether." She adjusted the strap across her chest, tightening her grip over her bag. "They're reckless and dangerous. They chase power without discipline, and they answer to no one but themselves." Her voice hardened, but then just for a moment, it faltered. "Either that… or they're someone who abandons our way of life. Someone who has… Renounced their title as a Sentoki." Her words lingered in the air for longer than expected, before she shook and raised her head to see the path in front of them. In his mind, Taiyo had noticed it again, the strange feeling that Aimee was withholding something from him. It didn't feel like a lie, but rather something that lingered on her mind, just behind her eyes Taiyo could feel the weight of something that she didn't want him to know.
The Young Sentoki duo had been traveling for the majority of the day now as the sun began to set behind the edge of the field of flowers that surrounded them. "They say the sun sets almost 20 minutes later when you're up here," said Aimee. "We should make camp soon since we won't reach a village where we can stay until tomorrow night," She added as she pulled the strap of her bag up and over her head, walking out into the field of flowers with it in her hand. "There," She said as she pointed out across the field to a small patch of ground that was covered in short-growing grass and weeds rather than delicate flowers. The two of them moved towards the small patch of grass and began setting up for the night as the sun descended behind them, painting the evening sky in deep shades of red and orange. Aimee slowly gathered some stones and small sticks to build a fire for the night, while Taiyo assembled the tent he had been carrying on his back all day.
He had finally gotten the unnecessarily large and temporary hut mostly assembled when he poked his head outside to see Aimee had gotten a small flame going for the two of them to warm up some of the field rations they had brought along. Taiyo stepped out as she pulled a small cooking pot from her bag as well as a small packet of dry rice and dehydrated beef. Taking a seat alongside her as she filled the pot with the rice and a bit of water, Taiyo pulled a few tall blades of rounded grass from the ground nearby and rubbed one of them between his fingers. "Onion grass," He said with a smile as he started to tear the blades into smaller pieces and tossed them into the pot. Aimee glanced at him suspiciously, during the short time since they had left for their mission she had kept being shown small sides of Taiyo she hadn't seen before, nor did she think him capable of them either. The two of them waited for the food to cook and ate together while continuing to discuss the details of their mission and their next few days of travel before eventually heading back to their tent together to rest for the night.
"This thing is huge," Aimee thought to herself as she walked into the dimly lit cloth structure. A lamp Taiyo had lit earlier hung in the middle just slightly above her head. "I guess it has to be this big to fit that oaf," Aimme said to herself as she turned to her side of the tent. "Okay, where's the divider?" She said to him after she had finished setting up her space for the evening, her bag and things now strewn somewhat carelessly around her area. Taiyo's eyes widened as his back faced her, quickly realizing he had forgotten to pack the dividers that could be used for the tent. "Umm about that…" he tried to say casually as he slowly turned around to face her. Aimee was already visibly upset, her arms crossed and her face scrunched in anger as her eyes shot daggers at him from underneath her brow.
"You can't be serious…" Aimee said slowly as she stepped towards him, placing the heel of her foot over his toes. Stepping down and digging into his foot, Taiyo winced as she stared him in the eyes. "Are you telling me I have to sleep in these clothes because you can't properly pack a tent?" she muttered as she kept putting pressure down on him. "Look, I can step outside or something while you change!" Taiyo pleaded as he desperately tried to back away from her. Aimee just sighed with disappointment, the air around them seemingly changing with her demeanor. She took her foot off of his as she turned back around towards her side of the tent. She glanced over her shoulder with a look that left Taiyo confused, "...It's not really a big deal I guess," Aimee said softly as she quickly untied the small rope that closed her uniform and let it drop to the ground in front of him and covering herself with her arms, her long blonde hair falling across and covering her back as she did. "What are you doing?!" Taiyo yelled as he quickly threw his hands over his face and rushed for the cloth door of the tent, somewhat tripping as he threw himself outside. Back inside the tent, Aimee tossed her head back in laughter as she dropped her arms, revealing the halter-top style shirt she had been wearing underneath her uniform. "I guess he still has some growing up to do," she thought to herself. Aimee quickly followed him outside where she found him breathing heavily with widened eyes. "What's the matter? Do girls still make you nervous?" She said in a mocking voice as she stepped in front of him. Taiyo looked up and quickly realized the trick she had pulled on him. Letting out a sound of disapproval, he rolled his eyes and threw up his hands as he turned to walk back into the tent. Aimee raced back to the entrance ahead of him and blocked his way as she pulled the cloth door over herself, "I do actually need to change though, so you," she pointed at him with her foot playfully from under the cloth as she held it across her body, "Wait out here, you can change next," She said before closing it the rest of the way and disappearing back into the tent. "Is she… relaxed or something?" Taiyo thought to himself, feeling somewhat bewildered by her teasing and jokes. Taiyo turned back around and just stood outside of the tent confused, failing to notice the silhouette of Aimee's body cast from the lamp inside the tent across the smoldering embers of their now put-out fire. A moment later she emerged again, wearing simple thin black linen pants and a shirt that fit loosely over her form. "Your turn," was all she said as she held the cloth door open for him. Taiyo quietly stepped inside and let the cloth door fall behind him, still not sure how to react to Aimee's seeming change of character as she walked away.
"Maybe that was too much," Aimee said to herself as she waited outside the tent by the smoldering embers, squinting her face as she cringed a bit at the crudeness of her own joke. All of a sudden a sound came from inside the tent, "Ow!" she heard Taiyo say as he smacked his head against the bottom of the lamp. Aimee smiled and laughed as she lifted her head and turned back towards the tent. Only to find her gaze falling across the silhouette of Taiyo that was cast across the ground, her cheeks blushing at the outline of his bare form. She had lingered there for just a brief moment, frozen with surprise and staring at his visage in front of her before she came back to her senses and quickly turned away. Heat rushed to her face as she clenched her jaw, trying to shake the image from her mind and the rush of embarrassment that came with it. "Nope, nope, nope," she repeated to herself, forcing herself to stare at the horizon instead. Only then did it hit her, If she could see his silhouette that clearly, then he must have seen hers too. The very thought made her face burn even hotter. Another moment later Taiyo re-emerged from the tent wearing his attire for the night, in a similar set of grey loose-fitting linen pants and shirt. "Ready to get some sleep?" He said as he held the cloth door open for her. "Mhm, I'll be there in just a minute," Aimee said to him in a strained voice without so much as turning around. Once again Taiyo's face contorted in confusion at her behavior, "There she goes acting weird again," he thought as he rolled his eyes and stepped into the tent and put out the lamp. It was starting to become a habit, one minute she was ready to kill him, the next she was teasing him, and now she was even avoiding eye contact, maybe this mission was gonna be harder than he thought. He lay down in the darkness and closed his eyes, only to hear Aimee shuffle inside the tent just a moment later and do the same. The oddly paired Sentoki duo slowly drifted off to sleep and into their dreams while only a few feet apart from each other in their tent atop the Highlands of southern Kamikochi, yet they were still seemingly miles and miles apart in their understanding of one another.
The Umitasora house was still and silent as the morning crept in. The usual blanket of peace that covered the quiet household in the mornings had been replaced with anticipation. Hikari's eyes fluttered open as the memory of the day before rushed back into her mind. She had hoped it was all just a bad dream, but she was quickly reminded of the harsh reality by the weight of her brother's hand still resting in her own. "Eiji…" Hikari whispered as she sat up from the floor and looked at her still unconscious little brother. "He looks more peaceful than he did last night at least," Hikari thought to herself as she brushed some of the hair away from his face and fixed his blankets. Hikari looked around the room only to realize she must have been the last one to wake up. She could hear the muffled voices from down below as she walked out of the room and down the hall, eventually coming down the steps as she still yawned and stretched.
"Should we call Taiyo and Aimee back? Or at least Taiyo? He should know what's going on," said Kyuen's voice from the kitchen as Hikari came down the stairs. "No I don't think so, we still don't really have any idea what's going on, and their mission has its own importance I don't want to jeopardize," Hiro responded. "Morning guys," Hikari said somberly as she walked into the room and greeted everyone. She walked over to her father and put her arms over his shoulders as he sat at the table, giving him a hug and trying to relieve his worried expression. "Morning," Kyuen and Hiro replied softly. Their faces just as stricken with the stress of the passing events. "Hiro's right…" Gado said begrudgingly as he took in a deep breath and let out a sigh. "We don't need to worry Taiyo with any of this until we know what direction things are gonna head. Just let him complete his mission and hopefully Eiji's awake and back on his feet by the time he comes home," Gado added, his voice still strained and raspy.
"I'm still trying to wrap my head around everything that happened yesterday," Kyuen said as she rubbed her temples. "Well… I think if he feels up to it… Rei here might be able to help us figure that out," Hiro said in response as he nodded towards the young man who had yet to speak up. "It's our fault…" Rei said somberly as he wrapped his hands around the cup of tea in front of him, his clothes still dirty and disheveled from pulling Eiji out of the ruins. "We should have helped him excavate the room when he asked… We… We didn't know he would go back on his own…" Rei whispered as his hands began to tremble. "Thats not true," Kyuen said with a feel of affection that was unlike her as she placed her hand over Rei's. "We may not know exactly what happened but I think we can be certain it wasn't your fault, nor was it your brothers," Kyuen added as she squeezed his hand in hers.
"Well that answers my first question," Hiro interrupted. "So you weren't with Eiji when whatever happened, happened?" Hiro asked. Rei shook his head, "we were wandering around the temple… We had some trouble sleeping since us and Eiji had gotten into a bit of a fight over exploring the last room that had been deemed unsafe," Rei answered. "Eiji had figured out that the real temple he was looking to discover was still buried below the temple we had first found, I guess he was actually right…" Rei said as he stared into his cup. "I took a look down there this morning myself. I'm not sure what you and Eiji discovered underneath the ruins could be called a 'Temple' per se, but it was interesting to say the least…" Hiro added. "We… We didn't really look around when we went down there… All we really remember was when the strange light stopped coming from the ruins, we rushed inside and down to the final room as quickly as we could but we could see the floor had already collapsed… we didn't even think about it, we just jumped down to find him…" Rei continued explaining to the table. "And we're very grateful that you did," Kyuen added as she squeezed his hand again. "He was lying in this strange looking room underneath some sort of statue," "I saw that…" Hiro interjected before Rei continued on. "We just screamed his name but he didn't respond… so we grabbed him and carried him out as fast as we could… and that was when you two showed up," Rei finished recanting as he lifted his head and looked toward Hiro and Gado.
"Well, unfortunately that didn't give us any more insight than we had before," Hiro said as he let out a sigh and stood up from the table. "I should tell you all that we plan to keep this whole thing under wraps until we know more. As of now the story is that the event everybody saw was a 'failed test' for a lightshow that was meant to take place at the Graduation exams," Hiro explained. "Thats probably best," Gado added. "Rei… did you two really not notice the sheer amount of Ki crystal surrounding Eiji when you found him?" Hiro asked the young man. "I… I guess not," he mumbled in response. "Hmm, well our leading theory for the moment is that there was possibly a large amount of natural Ki stored within the crystal below the temple, and Eiji somehow accidentally released it… but I have a feeling it was something else," Hiro said to the room, his voice carrying on a bit as his mind went back and forth over what little information they had. "What do you mean something else?" Gado asked his brother with concern. "I don't know yet… but something tells me there's more to come of all this," Hiro said as he looked towards the stairs that led up to where Eiji was laying. "But I guess we'll just have to wait until Eiji wakes up to get any more answers…"