It was a peaceful morning, Kaoru was slowly opening his eyes as the light was lightly appearing through the shutters.

He had been thinking all the night but his thoughts were still haunting him.

Haseo.

He had noticed how important he had become to him, since he saved him from the boiling emptiness that was crushing him after AIDA left him all alone.

That was true, Mia was gone now and nothing was going to bring her back. The sense of loss had been poisoning his mind, so much that he had given up on living.

She was gone. No one would come for him, no one needed him, it was what he thought. No one had ever reach for him in hard times so Kaoru expected things to remain the same.

But no.

"Endrance, I need you."

He had dreamed of these words so many times in his life, that day he felt like he was almost not ready to receive this wonderful present.

The warmth grew stronger in his chest as he recalled Haseo's voice.

That day, Haseo saved him. He could not really explain how important these words had been, it was like his soul was sparkling and in the mirror of his bedroom, he had discovered a new expression on his face, one he had never seen before.

He did not really react on the moment, that was right. Of course, Kaoru needed time to truly understand what was happening, that a new way was appearing before him, that he had finally a chance to change his life and become someone else.

He had to recognize, he arrived a bit late, but hopefully soon enough to support Haseo in the arena and save the situation.

Haseo's gratefulness. It felt incredibly good.

As Endrance, he had grown extremely powerful, that was a well known fact in The World. But it had been a very long time since he last lended his strength to someone.

Little by little, he had discovered how picky was Haseo, how hard it was to get closer to him and to catch his attention. Indeed, being needed by this man was making him feel special.

Kaoru smiled gently;

"Haseo...You looked for me after all, right?"

Day by day, he was getting happier to help him, support him in quests or joining him when they were called to Raven's @Home. He knew about Epitaphs, but he knew it deeply in his heart, he was not really acting by charity but rather for Haseo himself.

Maybe that was a bit selfish, he thought. But after being bullied for years, Kaoru did not feel like he owed anything to this world or to people. He had clearly forgotten how to feel for years and now that light was back, he was truly decided to follow what his heart was whispering to him.