♪ Catch Me if You Can ♪

Rin and her friend Lily sauntered through Magnolia, having no real objective but to roam. "What are we going to do today, Rin? We can't just walk around aimlessly. There's work to be done!" Lily lectured. Rin sighed, tired of the nagging voice that floated near her ear. "Can't we just take a stroll, Lily? We've been working hard all week." she muttered, looking over at the floating bunny cat. Her cute eyes peered into Rin's, giving her a "seriously?" look. Rin shrugged it off and kept walking towards the forest. "H-hey! Rin! Why don't you ever listen to me?!" Lily complained, flying after her.

Once they had made their way into the forest, Rin looked around, never having seen such beautiful scenery before. "W-wow... So gorgeous!" she stared in awe at the swaying trees and the chirping birds. Sun was peeking through the leaves, shining down onto the forest floor. She wandered aimlessly through the trees, touching the bark and watching the creatures skitter around. "Have you never seen a forest before, Rin?" Lily asked, looking at her curiously. "N-no..." she responded, blushing with embarrassment. Rin had met Lily soon after she awoke from her "long sleep" as she calls it. Lily is still learning what Rin does and does not know. "Well. They sure are beautiful, aren't they? I used to come here to take long naps in the sunlight." Lily mewed, smiling as she remembered those times. "That sounds like a lovely thing to do! Maybe we can do it together some... time?" Rin cut off slowly, seeing a huge clearing in the trees. There was light shining down onto the plush grass, and a few benches placed around. Flowers were dusted around the grass, waving slightly in the wind. "Beautiful..." Rin gawked, staring at the clearing. "I have to draw this!" she squealed, grabbing her tablet. She sat down in the damp grass beneath her, and began to sketch. After a while of focused work, she began to hear squeals and approaching, running footsteps.

She turned around quickly, looking for the source of the steps. "Is someone there?" she whimpered, almost inaudibly. No response. She got up from her seat in the grass, and looked over to find Lily sleeping in the grass. She decided not to bother her, and ventured to look for the source on her own. The noises seemed to be coming from just beyond the clearing now. She headed into it, looking in all directions. All of a sudden, a group of children, running and laughing burst into the clearing. She squealed and fell over, greatly startled by their sudden appearance. "Lady! Are you okay?" a little boy asked, running over to her. "Y-y-yes..." she stuttered, nervous. "We didn't mean to scare you! We're just playing tag!" a little girl spoke up from behind the boy. "O-oh! Well, what are you doing here in the forest?! This is no place for children to be playing without supervision!" Rin grumbled, getting up from the ground and dusting herself off. "We always play here!" the boy stated. "Well i'm going to be changing that! You guys could get lost! O-or hurt! You're coming back with me!" she demanded, reaching her hand out towards the boy for him to grab. "We aren't going home! Unless you catch us first!" the boy touched Rin on the shoulder, before yelling "Tag, you're it!" and running away. "H-hey! Tag? What does that mean?!" Rin exclaimed, running after the children.

Rin huffed and leaned down, her hands on her knees. These kids were fast! "G-game on... kids..." she wheezed, preparing to start running after them again. The kids giggled, having a blast. Rin smiled, enjoying it just as much as they were. After running for a while, she finally caught up to the boy. "Gotcha!" she cried, grabbing the little boy, picking him up and twirling him around. The boy giggled uncontrollably. "What are ya doin'?! You're just supposed to say tag and touch my shoulder!" he said, smiling. "Oh! S-sorry! I've never played this before." she said, embarrassed, putting the boy down. "You've never played tag before?!" the girl cried, approaching them. "N-no. Hehe..." Rin replied, scratching the back of her head nervously. "Well! We'll teach you!"

The children played tag with Rin for a while longer, before finally listening to her request and going back to Magnolia with her. She saw them off as they shouted their farewells to her. "Did you have fun today?" Lily asked, seeing the large smile on Rin's face. "Yes... I had the best time."

WC: 759/500