[Atoli01]

I was rather surprised at what Sherlock had said. It didn't really occur to me that I was caring or anything; I mean, it was second nature to me. Why would it? But in the end, I guess that what he said was true... There weren't many people who genuinely cared for other these days. A lot of people were just stuck up and used others as pawns to get what they wanted.

In my opinion, those people were filthy. They shouldn't even be allowed to live. I mean, someone does something nice for you and you just go and use them? Many said that was the only way that you could truly win in life. But that wasn't true - even hearing that disgusts me.

I turned my head towards Sherlock, but lowering my gaze as I held up my notebook, 'I-I guess... But... y-you really think that I'm caring? O:'

Rima smiled as she looked at Adelle again, "I've never liked anyone. In my opinion, it saves you from a lot of stress. Not liking someone, that is. Since you don't really have to worry about what that special someone thinks of you, y'know~?"

[Hannah Kerela]

"I certainly do," Sherlock said. "We barely know each other, after all, and you still want me to be safe." Something his own brother wasn't actually all that concerned about.

Oh, sure. He knew that Mycroft wasn't the protective older brother he pretended to be. Sherlock was here for Mycroft's gain, not his own, however much he wanted to believe otherwise. It bothered him, a lot, but... Mycroft was his brother. And powerful. Crossing him... Sherlock wasn't ready to do that. Not until he had more insurance than he did.

But Hana was different; he felt that he could trust her implicitly. It was... new, and different. Even Adelle had been on shaky ground at first.

"Oh, I'll give you that," Adelle said. "I'm lucky; Mr. Holmes doesn't think anything about anyone who's not useful to him. So I can imagine that he thinks whatever I want."

[Atoli01]

And I was even more surprised by that. No one had ever told me that - all anyone has ever called me were things like nice, shy, weird... But no one had ever once used the word caring to describe me. Strangely, it made me feel good about myself. As in, really good. I had never had much self esteem, but for some reason, I felt that I had a lot after that.

I smiled and held up my notebook again, 'Well, i-it's all second nature to me, so I wouldn't know. I mean, I don't really ever think anything of it.' I flipped to the next page and looked away from Sherlock, choosing to avert my gaze towards Rima and Adelle, 'But... t-thank you. ^^'

Rima laughed a little at what Adelle had said. She yawned and replied, "Hey, I'm gettin' kinda sleepy..."

{{Hana: 24, Rima: 17}}

[Hannah Kerela]

Sherlock smiled. "You're perfectly welcome," he assured her.

Adelle grinned. "Yeah, I'm amazed that we haven't run into an Akail yet." She glanced back at Sherlock. "Hey, Mr. Great Detective! Seen any signs of an Akail yet?"

"I'm afraid not," Sherlock replied. "Quite peculiar, actually... Perhaps this Akail creature is more stealthy than I had initially given them credit for..."

Adelle sighed. "Well, keep an eye out, ok?"

"I intend to."

[Atoli01]

I sighed. Adelle did have a point; a painfully strong one at that. Would this Akail thing ever show up? At this rate, we would surely have to end up camping in the cave. And that was something I most certainly intended not to do. I mean sure, camping in itself is all fine and dandy, but we had no blankets, no tent... We wold have to end up sleeping on the filthy - not to mention uncomfortable - cave floor.

'It's starting to get cold, too... D': Shoulda worn more, I guess. :/' I sighed, looking around.

Rima-chan turned around and started walking backwards, saying, "Well, this thing obviously doesn't wanna be found. But that won't keep it from us any right?!" I nodded; we were going to find this thing. I was flat out determined.

{{The last time I found an Akail, it was a Pale one, and if I recall right, the first one to be found, or one of the first. But the dang thing ran away :/}}

{{Hana: 25, Rima: 18}}

[Hannah Kerela]

Sherlock shed his coat, draping it around Hana's shoulders. "We should be careful; if we get too deep into the cave, leaving to camp will be even more dangerous," he warned. His eyes looked into the darkness around him, watching for any signs of movement.

Adelle nodded. "Right. Let's keep going, then, I guess?"

Sherlock nodded.

[Atoli01]

I blushed - not just a little, but a lot - at that simple action. It was stupid; all he did was put his coat on me, and... and... I shook my head and sighed, hugging the jacket close to me. It was really, really, comfortable, not to mention how warm it kept me. I looked straight ahead at Rima, to try to keep from glancing at Sherlock, but with no luck. No matter how hard I tried to keep my eyes straight ahead, they just kept wandering back in his direction.

I was supposed to be looking for an Akail, not blushing like some kind of fangirl. "Heeeeeey! Both of you try to keep up will, ya?!" And then, inevitably, Rima-chan's eyes drifted towards his jacket - that was around me - and as expected, a grin spread across her face. Gawd, did I want to punch her so bad.

{{Hana: 26, Rima: 19}}

[Hannah Kerela]

Sherlock couldn't help but blush at the way Rima grinned. He glanced at Adelle, who was smiling in that infuriating way of hers. He glared at her, evoking a laugh.

"Now, Sherlock, come on! Don't want your brother to find out you've been lollygagging, do ya?"

He resisted the urge to make a very rude hand gesture, glaring more and then sighing. "Adelle, you are absolutely impossible."

[Atoli01]

Was Rima-chan ever going to grow up? I sighed; some questions, I guess, were just never meant to be solved, especially this one. Rima-chan turned slightly to give Adelle a high five, but unfortunately, that didn't quite happen. Instead, she went flying to the floor, a small and short scram coming out of her mouth. Instinctively, I ran cover to her to see if she was okay, but that didn't go over well either.

She had sat up, covering her knee before staring at me nervously. She went a let out another short scream before she moved her hand away. I quickly backed up, right into Sherlock - just my luck - seeing her red stained hands. I couldn't stand blood, and in fact, was terrified of it. Without thinking, I spun around and gripped Sherlock's shirt, literally on the verge of tears.

"I-it's fine, Hana. Just a little cut, that's all." But I knew that it wasn't okay. If she was fine, why was she bleeding so much?

[Hannah Kerela]

Sherlock, for his part, moved forward when Rima fell, as well. When Hana turned, however, he wrapped his arms around her protectively. "Adelle," he prompted. However, he himself kept his arms around Hana, as if trying to protect her from the sight that he was watching like a hawk. Hey, even eccentric bohemian detectives can be gentleman! Apparently.

Not that the prompt was needed, anyways, though. Adelle had rushed over and bent down next to Rima when she fell, and now leaned over her leg worriedly. "Let me take a look; I learned first-aid from an old doctor friend."

[Atoli01]

I wanted to help Rima-chan, I really did... But there was no way I was going to be able to do that in this state, that was for sure. Once I felt Sherlocknwrap his arms around me, well... My first reaction was obviously to back away. I mean, the last time any boy had wrapped his arms around me was well, never. But at the same time, I most certainly didn't want Sherlock to actually let go. His touch was just much too comforting, too soothing.  I moved one of my arms so it was around his waist now, the other one still gripping his shirt.

"Haha, thank you tons, Adelle!"

[Hannah Kerela]

Sherlock tightened his grip slightly. "It's okay," he assured her quietly, one hand moving up to the back of her head gently. "You're safe." He understood a fear of blood quite well, actually - for some time after the accident that had killed Dr. Watson, he'd been terrified of blood, as it always brought back memories of that affair.

But, that was in the past. He looked down as Hana wrapped an arm around his waist, a blush rising to his cheeks. He kept her close, though, trying to instill a sense of comfort in her.

"It's no trouble," Adelle said, standing and moving around Sherlock, reaching into his bag and producing a small first-aid kit, then moving back over to Rima, glancing through the supplies Sherlock had brought. "Do you, uh, want a shot to stop the pain for a bit while I look at this?" She deliberately didn't divulge what was in the shot or why Sherlock was carrying it around, though she did glance over her shoulder at Sherlock, her face set in a distinctly unhappy Look.

Sherlock politely ignored her.

[Atoli01]

N-no, it's all fine! I can stand it, really!" Rima's voice was incredibly cheerful, almost too cheerful for someone who had received a cut that was as bad as it was. Then again, I could have just been overreacting - which I probably was - but either way, she had still gotten wounded.

Darn it! Why did she always have to act so cheerful?! Didn't... didn't she know that she could rely on others?! That there were people that cared deeply for her? Showing weakness just... It just wasn't a weakness itself. If anything, it was more strength. I blinked a couple of times, trying to hold back my tears, and let my head rest on Sherlock's shoulder.

[Hannah Kerela]

"You sure?" Adelle asked. She looked worried, glancing at the cut dubiously. "'Cause it certainly looks like it hurts."

Sherlock kept his grip firm, stroking Hana's hair. "It's okay, Hana... Everything's fine." His voice was soft and warm now, and his gaze had drifted down to watch her warmly. If Adelle had been looking, she might've reconsidered her reservations about Sherlock's ability to be attracted to people. The man kept his eyes on Hana, holding her close. "It's okay."

[Atoli01]

"Yeah, trust me! I've just plain never liked doing unessecary things, if ya get what I mean. And I've had a lot worst accidents, anyways," Rima-chan Sybil her head and smiled, glancing down at the gash on her knee. She flinched every now and then though, presumably out of pain. Stupid girl.

But really, I was the stupid one. All I was doing was running from the truth. The truth that... that I honestly did like Sherlock, and not just as a friend. So the situation? I was nearly crying just from the sight of blood, pointing out why Rima-chan was being stupid in my eyes... And the guy I liked had his arms around me. Was there something wrong with that? Probably. Most definitely. But... what exactly were you supposed to do when you liked a person?

I took a step or two away from Sherlock, quickly pulling out my notebook and making my best effort to try and hide my blush from him. 'W-well, Rima-chan said she was tired, right? It... it wouldn't be any trouble for me at least if we were to take a quick rest here. Plus, she wouldn't... she wouldn't be able to walk anyways... And well, we could even sleep in shifts to you know, keep gaurd.'