KrissyKat91: I could never find a name for Ikki's mom, so I just picked one. I don't even know what it means.

Ch. 1: Return

two years later

It was still early in the morning, well before any sane person would wake, when he staggered into the residential area of Riverview, Japan.

His thoughts were vague at best, his memories flitting around just out of his reach. Instinct and bullheaded determination were all that were driving him at this point.

He was running from That Man, he knew that much. He also knew he hated That Man, hated him with every fiber of his being, hated him even more than he hated... someone he couldn't remember.

That Man had taken everything from him. He wasn't sure exactly what "everything" entailed, but he knew it was true. He wasn't even sure where That Man had kept him, just that he had walked a long way to get from there to here. And, where exactly was here?

A pale hand reached up, shoving black bangs away so weary blue eyes could look around. All these homes looked familiar, but he couldn't remember why.

Suddenly he stopped, staring. The house in front of him was barely different from the others, and yet...

"Home," he whispered. "I'm... home." The thought crystallized in his mind, bringing with it a rush of memories. "Mom, Dad, Metabee!"

Stumbling in his haste, he flung open the gate and rushed up the walk. Grabbing the doorknob, he was dismayed to find it locked.

'Of course it's locked, you numbskull!" a voice in the back of his mind snapped. 'It's three in the morning! Even the sun is still asleep!'

Shaking his head, he reached up and, after a second's hesitation, rang the doorbell.

For a long moment there seemed to be no response, so he rang it again, this time with more urgency.

"Just a minute," a slightly mechanized male voice called. An instant later the door opened, revealing a white-and-yellow KBT-type Medabot with sleepy green eyes.

Eyes that grew to the size of dinner plates at the sight of him.

"You..."

He grinned weakly. "Hi, Metabee. What's up?"

And then his strength failed him, and he passed out.

"MR. TENRYOU! MRS. TENRYOU!"

Joso and Mariko Tenryou shot out of bed at the sound of the Medabot's shout.

"Metabee?" Joso called as he and his wife pulled on their house coats. "What's wrong?"

"He's back! Ikki's back!"

The two adults dashed down the stairs to see Metabee struggling to pull an unconscious teenaged boy through the door.

"Ikki!" Mariko breathed. "My baby!"

Rushing over to them, she dropped to her knees and rolled the boy over.

It was obvious time had not been kind. His face was pale and hollow, his hair long and filthy, and he felt far too thin beneath the faded black tracksuit he was wearing. The once white sneakers adorning his feet were almost worn through, as though he's walked a very long way in them.

But despite all that, Mariko could still see the little boy who had been the light of her life as he grew up, and she held him tightly, crying tears of joy.

Low voices were the first things Ikki heard as he swam back to consciousness. Unsure of where he was, he kept his eyes closed and his breathing even. He wasn't quite awake enough to tell what the voices were saying, so he turned his attention to his other senses.

He was laying in a warm bed, with at least three blankets piled on top of him, and he felt clean for the first time since he'd run away from That Man, which felt amazing.

The voices suddenly became louder, catching Ikki's attention as the muffling fog cleared from his mind.

"I don't care if the Select Corps. wants to question him, Joso!" a familiar female voice hissed quietly. "I don't care if the Prime Minister or-or the Emperor themselves show up! No one is bothering my baby until he recovers!"

"I don't like it either, Mariko," a male voice responded, "but we could be accused of impeding the investigation if we don't allow it. Not telling them he showed up two days ago is already pushing it."

Joso. Mariko. It wasn't a dream!

Blue eyes snapped open, a gasp escaping before he could catch it.

Instantly, three pairs of eyes, two human and one robotic, locked onto him.

Joso Tenryou, his father.

Mariko Tenryou, his mother.

Metabee, his best friend.

Tears welled up in sapphire orbs, and he reached out, needing to touch them, to prove to himself that he was finally safe, and wasn't just having some wonderful nightmare.

Immediately, two pairs of warm arms wrapped around him, and a child-sized metal hand gripped his.

And Ikki cried.