Kirino cursed when Shindou told him his theory the next day. It was so obvious, why hadn't he noticed it before? Of course the captured children would be used for something dark, like human trafficking.

"Well, it explains the trade," Tsurugi mumbled as they all sat down around the fireplace.

"But it still doesn't tell us much about how long they will stay there," Tenma sighed.

It remained quiet for a while. "My guess is that they'll only be here for a few more days," Kirino mumbled after a while, "maybe three or four."

"Why do you think so?" Shindou asked, amazed by the other boy's knowledge. There weren't any leads as far as he knew, but Kirino had still managed to draw a conclusion somehow.

"The moon," Kirino replied simply. "This is just a guess, though. Since human trafficking is illegal in this country, they will likely do it at night. It's new moon in a few days. That's when the moon isn't visible, so those nights are the darkest. In other words, the chance that a ship is detected is smaller during those nights."

"A ship? Why does there have to be a ship?" Tenma asked, sounding confused.

"I said it's illegal in this country, right? Slavery is too. They are probably going to be sold to another country, where it's either legal or there's a war going on. Official laws are loose during wartime." It got quiet again as they let that info sink in. "But as I said, this is all guesswork. I don't know anything for sure."

"So if we assume you're right, there is a risk we'll never see Kariya again?" Shinsuke asked, although the question was clearly rethorical.

Silence felll on the clearing. "Speculating about it like this won't help much," Shindou concluded after a few minutes. "We won't ever know it for sure, so I think it's best we try to figure out a plan as soon as possible."

"There are four of them," Kirino mumbled as he drew aimlessly in the dirt, "and five of us. I think we would need at least two or three people to get everyone out of that hole, so that gives them more people than us. Moreover, they are all adults and probably really skilled at fighting. If it comes down to an actual fight, we will probably lose."

"And we still have to find a way to convince the children to run, too," Shinsuke sighed.

"Can't Kirino-san help with freeing the children?" Tenma asked. "If we tell them you are Kiriyoshi and that you won't harm them, they will come with us, right?"

"I doubt that would work," Kirino countered immediately. "It would be our word against our opponent's word. And even if they would believe you, it would take even more time to convince them that I won't do anything to them. It would all take way too long, especially if we can't figure out a good distraction."

Shindou sighed, letting his frustrations out. They were getting nowhere like this. The solution to one problem required the solution to another problem and their thoughts were going in circles.

"Shindou-san, do you have any idea to convince the captives?" Tsurugi asked.

Shindou shook his head dejectedly. Closing his eyes, he tried to think out loud. "We would need some proof that Kiriyoshi isn't the one behind it. It has to be something they can believe, something that won't take to long and won't get in the way of the escape..." He trailed off, deep in thought, before it suddenly struck him. "Why don't we play the same game as our opponents?"

"What do you mean, Captain?" Shinsuke inquired.

Kirino narrowed his eyes a bit. "You want to lie to them that you have more power than you actually have?"

Shindou nodded excitedly, almost tripping over his words now that there finally was some progress in their plan. "Yes. If they believe they are captured by an allmighty sorcerer, all we have to do is show them that there is a way to nullify that sorcerer's power. If we can make everyone believe that we have the power to go against Kiriyoshi and protect them from his wrath, they're bound to go with us, right?"

Silence followed as everyone let those words sink in. Then they all, questioningly, looked at the young sorcerer in their mids. Kirino nodded after a few seconds. "That could work," he agreed. Shindou sighed, feeling relieved that Kirino agreed with him. Kirino seemed the most knowledgeable about these topics in the group, so it gave him more confidence when the young sorcerer actually thought this plan could work out.

"Wouldn't it be even better if we gave them something? Something that would 'counter dark magic', so to speak?" Tsurugi put forward. The slight smile on his face conveyed his excitement for the plan now that things finally started rolling. "I think that would be more effective than simply saying that only we have the power to counter Kiriyoshi."

"What do you want to give them, then?" Kirino asked, his voice carrying a worried undertone that no one picked up. If people received something which they thought would counter his magic, then it could turn out bad for him in the future. On the other hand, he agreed with Tsurugi that it would speed up the escape and that would reduce the chances of failure. He decided that he should prioritize the near future. If troubles arose, he could always figure something out again.

"How about we make braid some twines into a bracelet?" Tenma mooted with a big smile. "We all used to do that when we were younger and it's not so hard. Plus, a bracelet won't really get in the way of the escape either."

"Oh! You're right Tenma!" Shinsuke exclaimed and the two boys gave each other a high five. The others nodded to show their agreement.

Shindou bent forward and grinned with newfound energy. "Alright, what's next?"

They spent most of the day putting forward and rejecting ideas. By the time they finally figured out their course of action, it was already twilight. Kirino cursed softly when he looked up at the sky, realizing hat they'd all lost track of time. Even if they left now, the guys would never leave the forest before dark. He scolded himself for not being more aware of his surroundings. It would be bad if the villagers got suspicious right now.

"You should go quickly," he told the four, sounding slightly harsher than he'd intended. Not that it mattered: they seemed to have caught on to his track of thought and quickly rose from the ground without a word. Kirino looked back at the red-orange-ish sky and made a descision two seconds later. "I'm going with you. It will be dark soon and I don't want you to get lost."

Once the words had left his mouth, he wished he could take them back. It didn't seem like the boys found it very strange, but he realized he was giving the wrong impression. He was supposed to keep his distance from them, and yet...

"Thank you, Kirino," Shindou smiled. "Lead the way."

They walked in silence. Even though the sky was still bright orange, it was pretty dark underneath the treetops. Kirino moved quickly and quietly, as if he didn't even touch the ground. Shindou's eyes flickered down to the pink-haired boy's feet more than once to confirm that the boy wasn't floating on the air. The mist was low and thin, enabling him to see where he put his feet. If he focused on it, he could avoid branches and the like to minimize the sounds he made. But Kirino didn't look down at all and still managed to avoid making any noise. Shindou wanted to make a comment about it, but refrained from doing so when he noticed the sorcerer's expression. Kirino seemed lost in thought as he led them home and Shindou thought that he'd better not distract the boy with trivia right now.

.

Kirino's thoughts were with the discussion they'd had earlier. They had formed a pretty solid plan, but he knew it was an enormous gamble. If anything went wrong... He moved stealthily inbetween the trees, minimizing the noise he made. He didn't need to look where he put his feet, because the shallow whisps of fog told him everything he needed to know. He didn't even neet to put thought in the way he avoided branches and dried up leaves, since that was the way he always moved around and it had kind of grown on him.

His thoughts drifted from the plan to what lied ahead of them. He had no doubt that their parents were going to look for the four boys behind him, now that they hadn't returned home at this time. And if it got found out that no one had seen them all afternoon, difficullties would surely arise.

When they reached the edge of the forest, he gestured the others to stop for a bit. They all crouched down, hidden from sight by the plants and shallow mist, and looked towards Raimon. There were a few people who were clearly looking around. Kirino couldn't see their expressions from this distance, but he assumed these were people who were looking for Tsurugi, Shindou, Shinsuke and Tenma.

"Come with me for a bit," he said and then immediately took off. His tempo was higher than before and he heard that the others had to run to keep up with him. A few hundred meters ahead, when they were out of sight of the villagers, he allowed them to exit the forest. "It would have been bad if they saw you coming out of the forest," was the only thing he said. They nodded in response, clearly following his line of thought. If they were seen exiting the Misty Woods, their parents would no doubt worry and that would limit their movements. Assuming that Kirino was correct with his thought about the new moon, they couldn't afford to be grounded.

They said their goodbyes and then quickly made their way home. Kirino watched their backs for a bit, but then turned around and the mist swallowed him up.

Shindou quietly ate his dinner, not noticing the worried glances that his parents exchanged. They had been quite angry with him for coming home so late, but he and his friends had made up a valid excuse and his parents had believed them. He hoped from the bottom of his heart that his parents would let it slide that he was late and had made them worry.

That was, when he stood up to do the dishes and his parents told him to sit down again, his heart skipped a beat.

"Look, son," his father started and Shindou's breath hitched. His father didn't call him 'son' unless he was deadly serious. This wasn't promising.

"What is it, Dad?" he asked, trying not to show his nerves.

"Your mother and I... we know you're worried about your friend..."

Not good, not good, not good!

"But we don't want you to do anything dangerous. Like looking for him in that place," his father finished, obviously glad that he was done speaking. During the last sentence his voice was a little lower and he glanced nervously in the direction of the ominous forest. Shindou glanced in the same direction and briefly wondered how his feelings could change so fast. The dark trees and the spooky mist didn't seem scary at all, anymore.

"I won't do anything dangerous!" Shindou replied, maybe a little too fast. He forced himself to look his father in the eye and to hide the fact that he was lying. But in front of his parents, he was a horrible liar. "I told you, the guys and I were just playing on a field a little up ahead and we forgot about the time." At least that was the truth. Sort of.

He hoped it was enough to convince his parents.

"Takuto," his mother chipped in and her voice softened. "We heard you haven't been around the other children lately... They said they hadn't even seen the four of you... I know it's hard on you, and it's not that we don't care about Masaki-kun, but we don't want you to get hurt. So please..."

Shindou barely heard her over the loud beating of his own heart. It was getting hard to breathe.

"I promise I won't do anything dangerous." He didn't know how, but he managed to make his voice sound normal and serious. "I swear. I'll also talk about it with Tenma and Tsurugi and Shinsuke. I promise, you don't have to worry about me. It's true we miss Kariya, but we know it's not safe to go into the woods. We won't do it."

He started another stare-off with his father, but eventually the bigger man sighed and leaned back. "Alright, Takuto, I trust you. Now, it's about time you start those dishes, eh?" With that, the atmosphere in the room lightened and the serious topic was over. But Shindou couldn't help but feel guilty as he cleared the table.

Hey everyone, it's been a while. I think it was May when I updated last...? Oops. After my exams I started a full time job for a few months, which left me with very little time. Then university started and I had both little time and little inspiration to write. Because people still reviewed at my stories and a friend on here (you know who you are) recently updated their stories and told me I should 'hurry up and update already' (but with nicer wording ;)), I decided to start again.

So here is it!

I have a feeling it's one of the worse chapers I wrote for this story, but I hope things will pick up in the future. I can't promise I'll update soon again, but I'll do everything I can!

Xx Lotus Sword

Ps. I decided to update this now because I'll become depressed pretty soon: The Ansatsu Kyoushitsu Manga is almost finished T-T