Disclaimer: Do not own MR. YAOI Tiger x Hare in the future.

Facing Your Friends

'HARE!' the monster came awake as a body came crashing onto his stomach. 'Genki,' the hare chuckled, letting the boy hug him then jump off. 'So, you finally showed up,' Suezo seemed as sarcastic as usual. Hare smiled his usual grin, but inside, his stomach twisted. ~Not like I'm worth anything to you.~

'Yeah, well... it took me a while to find you guys,' Hare lied easily, having already planned his excuse the night before. 'I'm sure it did,' Tiger grumbled, still curled away from the scene. Hare glanced over, half wondering if Tiger knew... no, he couldn't. 'Are you alright, Hare?' It was Holly, now standing on the other side of the fire. 'Yeah, just got soaked,' the monster laughed, shivering at the remembrance of the water. ~I hate water, I hate it, I hate it, I...~

'You should have seen it! Tiger was down, then there was this red light that...'

'I wasn't down,' Tiger growled lowly, unable to admit even he had been in trouble.

'You were so,' Genki argued back. The pair glared at each other, before Hare interrupted. 'Red light?' he asked, wondering. 'Took care of the baddies for good,' Suezo chimed in. 'Red light,' Hare whispered to himself, touching his scarf again. ~Is it possible? Did I somehow use the Phoenix's gift?~

'What's wrong, Hare?' Holly had noticed the sudden curious silence that was quite unlike their happy friend. Like he was actually thinking hard about something. 'Oh, it's nothing! So, guess the great Tiger of the Wind isn't as good as he thought he was,' Hare tried to get the subject off of himself. 'What was that?!' Tiger nearly leapt at the infuriating creature. 'Calm down, you two. We haven't even had breakfast yet,' Holly sighed as the pair bickered back and forth.

~*~

'So, tell us which way to go!' Genki cried, impatient to get started. Holly concentrated on the Phoenix Tear in her hands, waiting.

Hare blinked. It was pointing at him. Glancing behind himself, he saw only forest. 'Get out of the way, baka,' Tiger growled, annoyed at how long this was taking. Hare grumbled, but shifted towards Genki, only to find the arrow moving along with him.

~Oh crap! It's probably being drawn by my gift.~ Once again, Hare touched his scarf unconciously. 'It's pointing to you,' everyone's eyes were now on their friend. 'Why the heck would it do that?' Suezo kept staring. Tiger's golden eyes focused on the red scarf. Hare seemed kinda nervous being on the spot. 'Maybe it wants you to take directions from me,' he suggested, chuckling nervously.

'Yeah right,' Suezo commented, bouncing away to search the distance. 'No, really. ~This is the perfect chance. I can get them to head towards Eternity Mountain.~ I think we should head that way,' Hare pointed with his free hand towards a distant cliff. 'Hey, I've never noticed that mountain before,' Genki replied, staring at it.

'Are you mad?' Tiger snarled, glaring at the hare. 'No, I just have a feeling we'll find something there,' Hare tried to edge away from those white teeth. 'Isn't that... the mountain of the guardians?' Holly whispered, staring at it. 'What are the guardians?' Genki turned, Mocchi sitting on his back with a clueless look.

'Don't you know anything?' Suezo was back, hopping up and down. Holly sat down, waiting for everyone to do the same. 'Holly, what are the guardians?' the boy sat in front of her as they all waited for her explanation. 'It's a legend. In the beginning, the universe created monsters. But, it also created guardians to watch over them. Each breed of monster is said to have one guardian, a creature that was created to protect it. Those guardians were given the mountain as their home, so they could look down upon their charges,' she explained.

'What do they look like?' the youth wondered aloud. 'No one knows, but the elders sometimes claim to have seen them,' Suezo whispered. 'It is said, that they are half monster and half human in appearance. Because of the relationship between all monsters and humans in this world. It is also said, that a new guardian appears when there is born a hybrid,' Holly spoke softly. 'Whoa! And, you want us to go there?'

'Well, er... if the guardians do exist, then they'd be able to help us find the Phoenix, right?' Hare sweatdropped, trying to make his message clear. 'I get it!' Genki leapt to his feet and took off on his rollarblades. 'Let's go!' he cried. As usual, then entire group found themselves following their young leader. ~Maybe you are all still alive.~ Hare smiled to himself, walking towards his home.

...tbc...

Author Note: Finally, got them in the right direction. Tiger is still as suspicious as always, and Hare's now acting a bit secretive. Well, thanks for all the reviews and next chapter will be up soon!