Ayu nodded, and listened as Ryoki addressed the crowd. ''Good evening, my friends. I hope you are all well,'' he began. ''Today is the day I tell you everything. We all know, of course that The Doom Alliance have tracked down the place where death is operating from, and have stopped him from reaping the souls of the dead. What you don't know is, we are holding a fugitive. Everyone who is supposed to die is being taken in by TDA. Their souls are being removed, and they are being used as 'uppets', or zombie slaves. This girl, with me. She is a fugitive. She is putting all of our lives at risk. But she is also the key to saving our world. She is what we would call the 'bait' - Ayu here will guide TDA to us. But we must be prepared for the biggest showdown of all time. I have devised a plan, but we need to make some necessary precautions first. We need to evacuate the town, and we must gather together all of the food in town, and bring it here. We must cover this, our base, with bulletproof material, and shatter-proof material, and we need to let the TDA know we have what they think is rightfully theirs. For Ayu is the first girl to be affected. At this point, noone other than us, and the few people the TDA have collected, know that we cannot die. We can not afford to let anyone find out, it would cause worldwide chaos. So, go home, comrades. Get your families out of here, and bring all your food and clothes here, where we will divide it between us all. If any of you wish to leave with your families, you may. Any questions?'' Ryoki finished, and gave a short reassuring smile to Ayu. The crowd stayed silent. ''All right then.'' Ryoki said. ''We must be hasty. SoulSavers.. UNITE!''

Ayu was shaken up. She didn't want to be bait in Ryoki's operation, well-thought-out as it was. As the people filed out, Ryoki turned to Ayu, and said, ''Ayu, my sweet. I will never let you get hurt.'' My sweet? Ayu thought to herself. Does Ryoki.. have a thing for me?
''Um.. Ryoki?'' Ayu said. ''Do you.. like me? I mean.. LIKE me?'' Ayu stammered. All through gradeschool, Ayu had crushed on Ryoki, but he had never even noticed she existed. ''Ayu, let me put it like this. I love you. I am willing to die for you. And I will give my life to protect you.'' Ryoki said.
''Oh, Ryoki''' Ayu moaned. Ryoki pulled Ayu into his arms, and kissed her, softly. Ayu never wanted it to end. It was as if her and Ryoki were the only thing that existed, fused together by this one, everlasting kiss.