Of course, no one dare to say anything of how the two acted, since it will result in their head being pummeled by the fist of one angry Ardent. Not even Frank dare to face his righteous wrath.
"Alright, let's stop fighting." one of the girl took the horn and act as the mediator, stopping the two from arguing. Though, the glare she received made her wonder if it was worth it.
"We don't have a long time before we are going back. So, let's go back to playing." she suggested, hoping it will distract the two from their argument.
The two glared at one another before huffing, pout on both of their faces,
"Alright, let's go back to playing." Ardent said.
"Okay. This time, Ardent will be the seeker." the black-haired boy nodded as the rest began scurrying away, hoping to find a good spot to hide.
-x-
When he looked around for them, Ardent tried to think of the best place to hide, one he did not use yet. He quickly think of one and head there.
The place he had chosen is behind one of the house, inside a large crate. No one would think of using it for hiding, or so some would assume.
As he peered inside, he spotted long blonde hair, as he could guess who was inside.
"Hiding here?" his question cause the girl to scream in fright, to the point of almost jumping out of the crate.
She turned towards him, glaring at Ardent.
"How did you find me so fast?!" she yelled angrily, before gasping, her hands on her mouth. "Are you cheating?" she accused, glaring at him with what she probably thought a scary look.
Unfortunately for him, as an adult in a child body, Ardent merely consider it to be a cute glare of little girl.
"No," his swift reply followed with an explanation seeing how the blonde girl would not let him off so easily, "I just think where I'm going to hide and go to that place."
Seeing her open and closing her mouth like a fish out of water was a bit more satisfying than he could even thought.
Catlin shook her head before continuing glaring at him, probably hoping it will end up with him letting her off. Unfortunately, Ardent did not intend on letting the annoying girl go.
"Now, let's go find the other," he said cheerily, pulling the annoying blonde who lightly protested but still following him to look for other children.
-x-
As Catlin was the first one to be found, it was her turn to seek them all, so, naturally Ryker try to think the best place to hide. Since him and Catlin seem to share the same wavelength, at least in hiding spot, Ardent decided to think outside the box.
"Hhmm, how about there?" he eyed the top of the roof. If one angled their body on it, the likelihood of being spotted is slow.
He quickly find the ladder to get on top before hiding on the roof. He make sure to also grab a piece of clothing to hide himself, while making sure the blanket is large enough to cover his entire body while being the same color as the roof.
Now hiding in what is probably the best spot, he waited for Catlin to finish finding the ot-
"Found you~" he heard the girl's voice, next to him, before the blanket was removed forcefully. Ardent looked at the blonde with a gaping mouth, to which she returned with a smug smile.
'A child should not have such a smug look on her face,' he thought.
"Wow, thinking of the best place to hide allow me to find you first, so, you will have to help me find others."
Ardent wanted to retort but he was better than this. He used to be an adult, who part of the workforce and with a rented apartment. Arguing with a child is beneath him.
"... Alright." Maybe being a child effected him mentally. "Let's get dow-" Ardent's word stopped, as he looked at the fallen ladder, the only way for them to get off the roof.
He slowly turned towards Catlin, his face smiling yet his eyes did not follow. "... Catlin. Why does the ladder on the ground?"
Catlin looked away, like a criminal who was found guilty for their crime. Ardent pressed fingers into his temple while chanting mantras inside his head.
'Don't go strangle a child. Don't go strangle a child. Don't go strangle a child.' the Mantra worked, surprisingly as he looked back at Catlin.
"We have to stay here until others come out of hiding to help us get down." the blonde awkwardly nodded as the two stay on the roof, hoping their friends would help them from their current predicament.
-x-
It took nearly half an hour before anyone could figure out something wrong. Unsurprisingly, it was Frank who noticed it first, who then looked upward to see two children sitting on the roof.
He quickly push the ladder back to its spot, allowing the two to get down, before resuming the game. Catlin decided to allow Frank to go hide somewhere where she will find everyone else, to repay him from helping them from not having to stay longer on the roof.
-x-
As the game progresses, the children began to notice a pattern. Namely, Ardent and Catlin would the others first before finding anyone else.
While it was fun at first, being not the first one to be found, it get boring fast as it practically become a game of two people finding the others.
In fact, they decided to test their theory by hiding together, and sure enough, the seeker of the time, Ardent, quickly find Catlin, who was hidden underneath one of the houses. One of the few places the children will not look around to find them. Yet, he manage to do so.
"If they don't get married with one another, I'm eating my shoes." Frank said with a feed-up expression. The boys shared the same look he did. As for the girls,
"They practically a married couple, and they only met each other the first time!" it took Celine, Catlin's closest friend all her self-control to not squeal at the interaction between the two.
They continue watching how the two children began bickering, with some of them swearing they seen such scene with their parents.