All In All

This made Emanulle raise a brow. "How exactly do you know I have someone on my mind?" He was rather curious how Ignis came to that conclusion not that she was wrong, but it wasn't something he really talked to his family about considering. Kaori was just beginning to trust him so he was rather careful what information he did or didn't keep to himself.

She smirked. "Well, with you? I've noticed you are deep in thought a lot, which means you have something on your mind. Now, when you get to the point that you start subconsciously popping the knuckles on your right hand, I know it's an issue that is really important to you. Add the fact that you occasionally will seem to drift off into lala land during this time and start smiling a bit, and even blushing just a little bit? Definitely thinking about a girl that's caught your eye at least a little bit there. Put it together, and there's obviously a girl that you have at least a passing interest in, who you are clearly very invested in to some degree with how hard you're thinking about whatever is going on."

Emanulle wasn't too keen about getting close with anyone like that but he said nothing on it, sure he wanted to help Kaori because after learning everything he was something of a bleeding heart and they kind of could be considered a friend but that's about it. "We'll see."

Shifting a bit in his seat, he put his cup aside. "As loathe as I am to admit it as the truth is ugly but it'll set you free I have the answer to the Christine thing, I just didn't want to see. There was one other thing that happened prior, since I really didn't meet everyone until later. Christine had vanished for about a month after she ran off before coming back to the jewerly shop. Some new people were working there and one apparently startled letting her release a energy ball. I blocked with my own energy to prevent anyone from getting too hurt."

"She said she had no time to talk and had to rush the Mystic homeworld for vacation. At that point I just left and during Christine's flight away apologizied for almost blowing me up and she'd bring me back presents. It turned out later, she was in a rush because some Mystic had hurt Will and she wanted to get to him and those involved. Only other thing is, she never came back and she apologized to her hunter group for running off. But me and Michru, the later who has no clue what's going on? Couldn't be even bothered. On top of that, she's been a bit distant and cold to her dad Jack who as I said is a very good guy."

"So, no, she didn't ever consider me even a real friend or someone she cared about. It's time I called that for what it is and stop hamstering it."

Ignis sighed, getting out of her seat to move over next to Emanulle, pulling him up out of his seat and into a hug. "See that? You just needed to talk a bit about it in order to work some shit out. Just remember, it's the past. Things that happened literally worlds apart. We have a chance for a clean slate here, we should use it." She let him go, smiling softly as she patted his cheek. "So, you may not be ready to think about a relationship, but whoever this girl is, she has your attention, but seems to be involved in something that's got you thinking pretty hard. My initial advice, is not to let a bitch or two from Perene get in your way here, but also not to let yourself get taken advantage of in whatever these problems she has are. Now, do you want to talk about anything?"

Emanulle shook his head. "I talked about everything I wanted to talk about. If anything, Monica and Adell will probably need to one of these days. But what about you? Is there anything you want to talk or vent about?"

Ignis shrugged, smirking a bit. "Ah, I'm fine. Just feeling a little useless, but hey, at least I can help you out of a funk. I'll get over it once I find something to occupy my time."

"I'm sure you will. Mewtwo seems to have some plans so it might be a start of something worth looking into." There was something else he wanted to add. "Going back what you said,, I thought of something for some food for thought. We know ciggerates are unhealthy, and we know fast food is unhealthy. Yet there are people who use the former and live to old age, while more healthy people die earlier. My point is, is a 'unhealthy' relationship automatically bad if both parties see nothing wrong with it?"

Ignis raised a brow. "It's a different concept though. One is physical health, which can vary from person to person. An unhealthy relationship... one example would be one spouse beating the other, and the victim feeling they deserve it, and even defending the aggressor. Neither of them see's anything wrong with it. So, we shouldn't do anything?"

Emanulle shook his head. "Of course not. As I said, it was a thought experiment. Anyway, I'm going to be heading to bed. Now that I've gotten what I need to say off my chest I think I'll be going to sleep a lot better then what I've been for a long time."

Ignis smiled at that, nodding. "I'm glad. Sweet dreams, Manny." She kissed his cheek, patted his shoulder, and moved back to sit at the kitchen table.

If asked, Adell would say it wasn't his idea of going camping with Mami and Kyoko but he wasn't complaining. It was a excuse to relax and his mother thought it would be a good chance to spend more time with each other as well as just relax. For the most part it worked and he found himself enjoying the camping trip.

Sure there were things he didn't care for, such as the bugs but for the most part he couldn't complain. It wasn't his style to.

It was night time and he was still up looking at the river and resting his head on knee's as he thought of nothing in particular. One other thing that had been slightly bothering them was his attraction to the two. Given that they were essentially strangers he guessed that was normal but even so.

"Come on... hurry up..."

"Shh! Quieter, Kyouko... this is a terrible idea..."

The voices were whispered, but not quiet enough. Kyouko was dragging Mami out of the camp, both girls carrying small bundles, and clearly trying to go somewhere without Adell knowing

Adell wasn't sure what to make of the noises coming from behind, but soon they cleared up and he found himself hearing his sisters talk among themselves. Normally Adell would have left it alone but they they were talking among themselves made him curious.

 So after a bit of internal debate he opted to quitely go see what the two were up to. Briefly he wondered if it was just a 'girl' thing in which case he'd eat his hat; among other things.

Upon following the girls, Adell would be led to a quiet pond, with a tiny waterfall feeding it from the nearby creek. Mami seemed somewhat hesitant in whatever they were doing, while, Kyouko... was quickly stripping down to her underwear, laying her clothes on the grass nearby. "Kyouko... what if Adell notices we left? He'd be really worried..."

"It'll be fine! He's probably fast asleep, he'll never notice. We haven't gotten a chance to do this in a long time, I'm not passing up the chance." Mami sighed softly at that, before starting to undress as well.

"Well... I suppose that's true..."

Adell wasn't the type to watch from the side lines of this sort of thing. They were going to take a dive into the water and he shouldn't be there spying on them. He was just going to turn to walk away and not look back. No reason to be there.

Nope. None what so ever.

But he could stay a bit longer, just to ensure they were safe.

Kyouko stripped naked pretty quickly, 'helped' Mami out of her remaining clothing, and then dragged her to the water. At first, the two seemed content to mostly relax, swim around, and get into a small splash fight. It was as they were relaxing again that Mami spoke up.

"So... do you think Adell likes me?" She sounded rather unsure of herself, and Kyouko cracked open one eye.

"Eh? Of course he does..."

"Are you sure? I mean... I'm not really his sister... you are his sister by blood, and Yulina was raised with him, but... he doesn't really have a reason to-"

"You are a real idiot sometimes. Just shut up and stop saying that crap. He cares about you just as much as he cares about me, and he surprisingly likes me... I think. Pretty sure, anyway. So just... stop doubting things so much."

"Alright..." Both were silent again for awhile... until Mami once again broke the silence. "So... do you want to talk about it?"

"'Bout what?"

"About your feelings for him..." At those words, Kyouko was sure her blush could have lit up the area on it's own.

Wait, what? Feelings?

 That last bit caught Adell notably off guard but he never the less listened on in after that, more then curious. His sister having feelings for him, he wasn't sure what to make of it. Shouldn't he have been more bothered by it? Shouldn't it have troubled him more?

 It didn't. Not really. That fact more then anything made him think as he listened.

"I... I don't know what you're talking about..." Kyouko sank into the water more, while Mami shifted closer.

"You can't hide it, not from me... I've seen how you look at him, how you light up when talking to him or about him..."

"B-but... no, you... I'm not...." Kyouko's eyes narrowed, and as she tended to do when backed into a corner, she lashed out. "W-well, well what about you?! You're certainly more clingy toward him than I am!"

"I'm not the one denying how I feel though." Those words derailed Kyouko entirely.

"Wait... you mean... you..."

"...Yes. Me too, Kyouko..." Mami smiled a bit sadly, and shrugged. After a moment, Kyouko sighed heavily.

"We're messed up... totally messed up... we've just met him, and he sees us as sisters, yet we..." There was another pause. "What does that mean for... y-you know...?" Mami did seem to know, moving closer again, somewhat shyly.

"Adell is... probably impossible for either of us. We still have each other though..." Mami was leaning in, Kyouko's blush intensifying.

"H-hey, what are you... s-stop, what if someone saw?"

"Kyouko, we are out here by ourselves, and you said yourself that Adell's asleep... so it'll be fine... besides, we won't go that far..." Mami closed the distance, and Kyouko wrapped her arms around her as they kissed, something they seemed somewhat practiced in doing.

While Adell planned to leave afterwards, he was was stopped by the confession which was like a nuke being set off into a large public square. If that wasn't bad enough the two began..doing things and he found himself unable to look away.

Mami and Kyouko's kiss began getting more heated, mostly because Kyouko started getting far more aggressive, to the point she was soon on top of Mami, starting to reach down between them... until Mami carefully broke the kiss. "K-Kyouko... remember... not going that far... we can't stay out here for too long... we should probably get going soon..."

"Tch... then why did you get me so worked up..." Kyouko was grinning though, pulling away from Mami and moving to climb out of the pond, Mami following after. They retrieved towels from the bags they'd brought so they could dry off, get dressed, and sneak back into camp. Hopefully without waking Adell.

It was around that time Adell finally got his other head to start working and pull himself away to head back to the camp. His mind was still reeling from everything he had heard and witnessed and he was unable to really think further on it.

 Either way it was something he Could Not just sit on. He was attracted to them and enjoyed their company so should he do anything about it?

Kyouko and Mami soon slipped back into camp, trying to be as quiet as they could. They were already well aware that Adell was protective of them, something they were rather pleased about, but they didn't want him to worry about where they had been.

Naoki woke early the next day since it was Saturday and she rather be up doing something before she had to go back to school. Luckily for her, Summer break was coming so she only had to hold a bit longer before she was finally free. It would technically be her first break far as high school went since she was only a first year so that made it even more exciting.

Where did she go visit this time? Kirito, of course. She wanted to see them and spend more time with them because they were friends. That was it. That was definitely it, it didn't matter what her other friends thought.

She went to his apartment and knocked on the door, slightly bouncing on her heels without even noticing it.

It wasn't long before Kirito answered the door, and when he did, he couldn't help the smile that immediately appeared. "Ah, Naoki! Good morning. Come on in." He stood aside so she could come in, closing the door behind her. He hadn't expected her, but he was happy to see her. Purely as a friend, of course. "So, did you need something, Naoki? Or just visiting?"

"Oh, nothing. I just wanted to visit." Naoki said, looking around the apartment briefly then back to Kirito. "Maybe we could spend some today together? Oh! And how is Yui doing?"