Chapter 22 is here~ I don't own cardfight vanguard~

The brunette felt a spark of hope rise within his chest at the newest clue about Aichi.

"I guess me falling was a good thing!...."

Aisen replied, sapphires sparkling with excitement at becoming closer to seeing his look-a-like.

"Yeah...... Maybe he's close by!"

Mizuha exclaimed, his curiosity peaked at the thought of solving the missing Aichi mystery.

"......"

The brunette was silent as he slipped the phone into his pocket and began walking down the tunnel. The beige haired boy took a second to look up through the hole before turning to follow the older teen, Aisen then followed as well.

The walking pace was much quicker than the one before, it was hard for the youngest to keep up but he didn't say anything, for he understood why the older teen seemed so anxious.

"Kai, can I ask you something?"

Mizuha asked as they walked followed a stream to the right.

"Sure what?"

Kai asked, his gaze not faltering from in front of him.

"We may find Aichi.... But I've been wondering..... What if..... We don't find him in good condition.... or even worse?...."

The beige haired boy asked, wanting to know what to expect from the older if such a thing were to happen.

"...... We will find him okay...."

Mizuha winced slightly at the response, feeling slightly worried for the older.

"I know.... But I'm just wondering....."

The brunette was silent for a few moments before responding.

"I.... Don't know..... I had given up on him before coming to China....."

"I understand....."

The beige haired boy replied softly, his hazel eyes looking towards the ground as he prayed that they would find Aichi in good condition. For he didn't want his new friend's hopes to be brought up just to become utterly crushed by cruel reality.

"Stop dying such dark things you two...."

Aisen murmured, he had begun to feel anxious due to the conversation.

"Ah sorry"

"Don't worry, I'm sure Aichi is okay, we've seen tons of moss and fresh water so far....."

The youngest chirped, trying to reassure both teens.

"Yeah but..... what about food? I haven't seen any animals...."

The brunette replied, even though he didn't want to think about horrible facts like that.

"Really? well I've seen a bunch. The moss is edible, though not at all tasty and there are many small animals creeping around. I'm sure if Aichi was desperate enough he'd eat them"

Mizuha sighed.

"The moss is ..... Edible?...."

The beige haired boy nodded at the younger's question.

"Yeah, you should give it a try"

The brunette raised a brow as he turned to watch the younger boy cautiously taking some of the moss off of the wall.

"It smells disgusting...."

Aisen called as he sniffed it before quickly moving it away from his face.

"But it's edible"

Sapphires narrowed at his lover as he cautiously opened his mouth to place the moss into it. Seconds later, the youngest gasped and coughed out the moss, gagging in the process.

"Ack.... Yuck! How can that possibly be edible?!"

The blue haired boy cried as he tried to wipe the taste off of his tongue.

"It's edible, but I didn't say it tasted good"

The beige haired boy laughed, not believing that he actually tried to eat the moss even though he wasn't starved.

"We need to hurry and find Aichi...... I don't think he would have lasted long having to eat such yucky food...."

The blue haired boy murmured sadly, causing the brunette to smirk as he imagined Aichi gagging as he tried to eat it.

"He'll be fine if he became hungry enough"

Mizuha snickered, glad that he managed to lighten the mood, even in the slightest.

The three then continued to walk through the caves, this time, at a much more slower pace that didn't exhaust the youngest.

Jades flickered around at his surrounding, for he was carefully looking around for any other signs of Aichi.

"Hey, do you guys smell that?"

Aisen asked as he sniffed the air, the other two paused to sniff as well and they all filled with confusion.

"I do, it smells as if something is burning...."

The brunette replied, he was confused as to how something could be burning when there was so much water around them.

"...... I doubt that anything could burn naturally down here....."

Mizuha murmured, narrowing his eyes in confusion.

A small smile crept upon the brunette's face as realization filled him.

"No, but Aichi could be burning something....."

Hazel and sapphire eyes widened in shock at the brunette's comment.

"Aichi is somewhere really close!"

Aisen called, excited about finding the missing boy.

"Yeah...... He is......."

The brunette replied as he carried on walking, this time, following the scent of the burning smell. Truth be told, it smelt quite horrible.

"Aichi!!!"

The youngest called, hoping to hear a response, however no echo of return was heard by the three of them.

"I wonder why he isn't responding......"

The beige haired boy murmured.

"He may not have heard......"

"No, he probably heard but he might think that he's imagining it"

Aisen replied to the brunette's comment.

"I guess..... He's probably been alone all this time...."

The brunette murmured half to himself, he wondered how the young boy would react to seeing people after being alone for so long.

The smell of the burning suddenly intensified greatly after they turned a corner, causing all except Aisen to recoil back slightly.

"Urrrghh...... Why does it smell so bad...."

The beige haired boy grimaced slightly as he held his nose with his hand so as to block out the smell.

The brunette was starting to feel a little sick from the smell, he was glad that he hadn't eaten anything too heavy.

Suddenly, a big waft of smoke hit the brunette, obscuring his sight in front of him for a few moments before it dissipated.

"I think it may be the moss that's burning........"

Mizuha coughed as the three of them waved away the smoke so that they could see.

Jades widened at the sight that met him when his vision returned.

Me: that's le end of le chappy

Kai: .......

Mizuha: ........

Aisen: .........

Me: why so silent?

Kai: ........

Mizuha: ....... Can't believe it....

Me: hmmm.... Anyway hope ya people enjoyed le chappy hehe ^-^