The Calm Before the Storm

The next day had come around, and Yuu had gotten time to cool down. Looking back on his actions yesterday, he realized that he was being a major jerk. What Ren said the other day was perfectly reasonable, and was simply the truth. There was no way Lindow was just the same as he was when they last saw him if he was dropping off feathers. Some things were changing about him, for better or worse depended on how fast they could bring him back. Ren was making sure that he understood this, so that if things went wrong... he wouldn't be so crushed.

But he was so happy that they finally had proof that Lindow was still alive, he didn't want anything to bring him down. And the others... he hadn't seen them in such a good mood in a while, he couldn't bare to take that away from them now.

Still... he owed Ren an apology, and he was man enough to own up to his wrongs. So with a heavy step, he awkwardly made his way into the Sick Bay. Ren was moving around, checking the conditions of the equipment when he heard Yuu come in.

"Oh, hey..." Ren awkwardly greeted him, nervous about how this visit would play out.

"Hey, man." Yuu greeted back, looking all over the room, rubbing a hand through the hair on the back of his head as he nervously sucked up the courage to say what needed to be said. "Listen, I'm sorry about yesterday... I was... just so excited that Lindow was finally coming home that the thought of us having to... for me to have to... I just wanna let you know that I'm sorry. I over reacted."

"I'm really sorry about earlier too..." Ren apologized as well for his part. "The matter of life and death in humans isn't easy, I know."

"Heh, yeah... it kinda sucks."

"But the moment of judgement is right in front of you. You'll have to decide, very soon."

"Ugh, not now, okay Ren?" Yuu tiredly sighed out, running his hand down his face in mental exhaustion. "I need time to think this through..."

"Please, remember. This is reality. You can't avoid it."

"(Sigh) Right." Yuu shook the exhaustion out of his head before putting his hands in his pants' pockets. "It was good seeing you this morning, Ren. I'll catch you later for a mission, sometime."

"Hn, thanks for visiting." Ren waved to him as Yuu walked out.

Stopping by the soda machine to get a 'First Love Juice' as he contemplated what course of action would he need to take next. Yuu mindless walked around while his mind waged war with itself. What course of action could be taken where he could save everyone, one where everyone could be happy?

But he had to face the truth; there was a high chance that he wouldn't be able to make everyone happy. Lindow was going through the stages of Aragami Infection as time kept on ticking. His Bias Factor supply was cut off due to that fight with a Dyaus Pita. His armlet was bitten off, the proof of that was still in Sakuya's room. He wasn't getting any new supply of Bias Factor, meaning that his Oracle Cells were most likely rapidly mutating. If it spreads to more than just his arm, he'll lose his humanity.

And by then no normal God Arc could take him down. Only Lindow's own God Arc could finish off the suffering lost Gods Eater. Which means... that only Yuu would be capable of doing the job.

But he did not want it to come to that. He would never be able to live with himself if he had to do that to his old mentor. And his team... what would they think? How would they look upon him when they see Lindow's blood on his hands?

What about Sakuya? She was devastated when they had to leave Lindow behind; worked herself tirelessly trying to find him and bring him back; then, crushed when Lindow was declared MIA. It took her weeks to finally pull herself together. And the news that he was still alive out there had lifted her up in ways he hadn't seen since Lindow was in the Den. If he took that away from her now, it could kill her.

For that matter, could he even do it? Ren had pointed out a valid scenario. If he was lucky enough to bump into Lindow out there on the field, he would be forced with two possible scenarios: finding Lindow in a bad but still curable state, or finding him already in a Aragami Transformation state. If the latter option had come into play, could he do it? Could he kill the Aragami Lindow had become?

Every time he asked himself that question, he could only come up to one answer...

No.

'Dammit, Lindow. Leaving us all behind, so I would have to clean up your own mess while you chose to go off and play the hero.' Yuu thought to himself. 'The world already makes a lot of selfish and foolish choices, you did not have to add on to it.'

"Lame! Why can't the First Unit go out on the search? He's a member of the First Unit, we should do the search! Right, Leader?"

"?!" Yuu snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of Soma's voice breaking through his fogged mind. Somehow he had found his way up to the Entrance Floor, sat by his team and friends in the lounge area as Alisa waved him over. He didn't even hear her talking to him, he just subconsciously saw her lips moving.

But as he came back to reality, he saw that he had made his way to sit beside Alisa on the couch. He stayed on the edge where Shun was leaning his arm on the back of the couch. Karen sat in the middle of the three sided couch, working on a can of 'First Love Juice' of her own while Soma sat on the side across from Yuu and Alisa. Shōkan sat-more like lied down- on Soma's side where the middle and third side met. Kicking her feet up on the back of the couch as she lied down on the cushion, taking up at least two sitting areas as she read her book without care.

"Leader, are you alright?" Alisa asked in concern of his dazed state, he had a sad look in his eyes that stared off as if he was in a far off place.

"Y-yeah... I'm fine." He pathetically replied to Alisa, resting his arms on his knees as he looked down at the 'First Love Juice' can in his hand.

"You don't look find to me." Alisa huffed before softening up again. "Come on, where's the grin that you always carry around? Things can't be so bad, cheer up, okay?"

"!" Yuu's eyes widened in a panic as he noticed her hand reaching to grab his right hand in reassuring comfort through the corner of his eyes. But he couldn't react in time as her hand made contact with his, skin to skin.

"Oh..." Alisa's eyes began to zone out as what Yuu feared would happen was happening. "Could this be? Resonance... Lindow?!"

"!" Yuu tried to push her out as best as he could, without hurting her mind. At least, trying to keep her out of the things that the team wasn't ready to know. But it was hard, extraneous really, to block her out while acting like 'nothing was happening' in front of the others.

"Oh, it's ending..." Alisa tiredly strained to keep the Resonance going, but it was cut off beyond her reach. Allowing Yuu to pull his hand out of hers, she looked up to him in question. "Was that the Resonance?"

"What are you talking about?" He bluffed, if he made it seem like he doubted that maybe he could make her doubt what she saw as well. It was a shot in the dark, but it was all he had at the moment.

"Hm, maybe it was just my imagination... I think I saw Lindow, you, and... There was someone else. It was faint but..."

"If it was a real Resonance then you should file a Sexual Harassment Suit against Alisa, Yuu. I've got my report statement ready if you need a witness." Shōkan joked around without taking her eyes off the spot in her book. Yuu didn't know if she said that intentionally to have his back because she could hear the nervousness in his voice, or if she was just trying to start chaos. Either way, she saved him.

"Wha-What?! No! It wasn't- I couldn't control it that time, it just happened!" Alisa frantically stuttered in her defense.

"Riiiiggght, and I just so happen to like eating Flan because I can't control it. Go figure." Shōkan teased on, grinning from her book as she enjoyed getting a reaction out of Alisa.

"Heh, with how godawful sweet those things are, I'm surprised you're not fat." Soma mocked back at Shōkan.

"Heh, fat's too scared to stick with me."

"That was lame."

"It stopped you in its tracks, didn't it, Soma-san." Karen shot back at him, stepping up to the plate.

"!"

"Ohh! Nice burn, Karen!" Shōkan praised at Karen for her surprising comeback out of nowhere. She didn't think the girl had it in her to make a 'burn'. It would seem that she was happily wrong.

"These rambles are quite pointless, I simply wished to put an end to them." Karen replied, taking the slight victory from Shōkan's face at the thought of getting Karen to loosen up.

"Oh, there's my Samurai." Shōkan groaned out a little.

"Hmph," Karen smirked at getting Shōkan to deflate a little, but then she turned her attention back on to her slightly down-in-the-dumps leader. "You mustn't be distressed by the fact that you cannot go look for your mentor yourself. Find peace in the fact that we are taking care of the Aragami so he doesn't have to deal with them while he's out there. You must trust in your peers' power to bring him back."

"Right!" Shun jumped in, much to Karen's annoyance that he was interrupting her, even though he was agreeing in with her. He began to pat Yuu's back, just as hard as he did with her a while back. Perhaps he lacked the control over the strength he put into his actions. "Hey, hey, don't look so depressed! I'm sure I'm more than enough to find Lindow!"

"!" Was he... was he trying to comfort Yuu? Karen couldn't believe it.

"I'll find him real quick! Make sure there's a party ready for us when we get back!"

"!" Yuu couldn't help but smirk at Shun's words. Shun was right, he could depend upon Shun and the others to get the job done. He would... "Heh, sure. I'll even make sure to stock up with beer instead of 'First Love Juice'."

"Oh thank God!" Shun sighed out in relief, making the others laugh as he caught himself. "Uh, I mean- no offense."

"..." Karen had never seen this side of Shun before. Was he... actually trying to be sociable?

"I have mission orders to defeat an Amaterasu." Tsubaki had come up the stairs from the lower level, interrupting Karen's thought as she announced an immediate mission for the First Unit. "Sorry, but I need the First Unit to handle this as priority. Attacks with guns barely work on Amaterasu. Therefore, it is expected that this will be melee combat."

"Aw man, this late at night. (Sigh) I guess there's no rest for the wicked." Yuu sighed as he got up on his feet. "Alright, Tsubaki, we'll handle this."

"Don't let your mind wonder and get stomped on by the giant. Give this mission your full attention!"

"You got it, ma'am." Yuu assured to Tsubaki, giving her a thumbs up.

"Mind if I join you on this mission?" Karen requested. "I'd like to see the Aragami that would dare take the name of my ancient culture's main goddess."

"Hn, sure. Anything to make-up for how rude I was to you and Shōkan the other day. Sorry about that by the way, you two, I never meant to be so cold." Yuu nervously apologized in embarrassment for his behavior.

"You only pushed by us, it's not the end of the world. You were just having an off day, but I appreciate the apology and the sincere gesture." Karen replied, dusting off her shoulders as she got up from her seat before giving Yuu a slight bow in gratitude.

"Hey, if you're doing favors as apologies, mind if I sit this one out?" Shōkan asked. "I just got to a good part in my book."

"If that's what you want, fine." Yuu answered before turning to look at Mr. Sunshine sitting close to her. "Soma, keep her company while we're gone."

"Wha? Why can't I come along?" Soma grunted as he crossed in arms in frustration.

"You're so cute when you pout." Shōkan teased at him without looking from her book.

"Shut up." Soma gruffed.

"I want to come too!" Alisa raised her and in a volunteering request.

"Done!" Yuu clapped his hands and pointed at her as if sealing the deal. "Now I already planned for another guy to tag along with us. So let's get going, ladies. Take care you two."

"Hmph, fine." "Yeah, whatever." Soma and Shōkan replied to their leaving leader and his team at the same time.

"Don't get squashed out there, Karen." Shun waved her off, earning a hiss from his cousin.

"Hmph," She huffed at him as the Mission Elevator doors closed.

"Right..." Shun sighed out at her response, leaving the other two alone. "I'm gonna see if Karel and Gina want to go out and search again."

As he walked off, he left Soma and Shōkan alone in their silence that was starting to build up. Soma enjoyed moments of quiet like this, but not this time. This silence was stifling, he was not use to the new rookie being quiet for so long. And he certainly didn't like being ignored. So breaking the silence that built between them, he decided to make the first move.

"Hmph, so... what are you reading?"

"Nothing I think you'll find interesting." Shōkan answered, looking at him from the corner of her eyes before going back to her book.

"Hn, try me." Soma shrugged, reaching over her to grab the book from her hands. Marking her page between his fingers.

"Hey!" Shōkan pouted as her book was suddenly taken from her.

"Creation of the World- Norse Mythology?" Soma read the title of the book aloud with a quirked eyebrow.

"It's just a fascination of mine." Shōkan embarrassingly admitted as she sat up straight on the couch to properly face him. "I always had an interest in the mythologies of the world. They all seem so intriguing, and yet hold certain similarities with each other."

"I see... and is this your latest cultural study so far?"

"No, it's just one of my favorites." Shōkan began to get excited as Soma seemed to be truly interested in this topic. "I always come back to Norse Mythology everyone once in a while. Their deities don't seem to be as much of dicks as the Greek Mythology. Their stories were so charming."

"Heh, but their people could've been more or less charming if you ask me." Soma commented, looking back in his mind for the history lessons he once learned.

"Huh, well, that's true. But the same could possibly be argue with all the people of religions and mythologies." Shōkan countered back. "I just find their take on the creation of the world as magical, ever since I was little."

"Really? Care to explain why?" Soma requested, resting his elbow on the back of the couch so he could rest his fist on his cheek. Smirking as the chance of digging deeper into the rookie's character was given to him. "Perhaps you can convince me to agree with you."

"Oh, I don't know. It might take too long." Shōkan nervously replied, blushing in embarrassment as she rubbed the back of her neck with her hand.

"We've got time. I've got nothing better to do. And from the look on your face, you don't need the book to be able to tell me the whole story, Ms. Bookworm." Soma teased, grinning as he caught her in her tracks.

"Well... Fine." Shōkan sighed in compliance as she began the story. "In the beginning, there was a chasm, Ginnugagap, bounded on either side by fire, from the world known as Muspelheim, and ice, from the world known as Niflheim. When fire and ice met, they combined to form the giant, Ymir, and the cow, Audhumbla, who nourished Ymir.

"The cow survived by licking the salty ice blocks. From her licking emerged, Bur, the grandfather of the Aesir."

"Who are they?" Soma asked, interrupting her story.

"Aesir were a group of gods, lead by Odin, who lived in the city of Aesir called Asgard. It's the highest of the three Upper level of the nine worlds divided among three levels."

"Right... continue."

"(Sigh) Ymir, father of the frost giants, employed equally unusual procreative techniques. He sweated a male and a female from under his left arm."

"That sounds disgusting and unbelievable." Soma interrupted again. "I mean, if he created the frost giants isn't it a little bit of an oxymoron to create frost people by sweat?"

"No more interrupting!"

"What? I'm just say'n. It's more believable if he created them from his tears or something."

"(Sigh) Do you want to hear the rest of the story, or not?"

"Sorry."

"Anyway, Odin, the son of Bur's son, Borr, killed Ymir. The blood pouring out of the giant's body killed all the frost giants Ymir created, except Bergelmir."

"What happened to Bergelmir?"

"Hmmh." Shōkan had let out a puff of air from her nose in frustration.

"Sorry. I'm just curious."

"Ugh, I guess what I said before wasn't true. Bergelmir 'and his wife', the only survivors of the flood of blood on, went on to bring back the ice giants."

"Huh, I guess that would make sense."

"Now from Ymir's body, Odin created the world. Ymir's blood was the sea; his flesh, the earth; his skull, the sky; his bones, the mountains; his hair, the trees. The new Ymir-world was Midgard, the highest of the four worlds in the middle level, this is the world where man lives.

"Ymir's eyebrow was used to fence in the area where mankind would live. Around Midgard was an ocean where a serpent named Jormungand lived. He was big enough to form a ring around Midgard by putting his tail in his mouth."

"Why would he do that?"

"I don't know, but when he lets go of his tail the world is suppose to end. He's an example of an Ouroboros, an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail that appears in multiple religions, for good or mostly bad eternal return; always constantly re-creating itself as it gluttonously devours itself. He was one of the children of Loki and the ice giantess, Angrboda. They had three children: the wolf Fenrir, the sea serpent Jormungand, and Hel."

"Who's Hel?"

"The daughter of Loki who presides over a realm of the same name. It is said that Odin appointed her as ruler of this realm, located in Niflheim, where she receives a portion of the dead. To 'go to Hel' is to die."

"Ha! I get it." Soma replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes at the pun.

"Anyway, back to the original story." Shōkan said, bringing him back. "From Ymir's body grew an ash tree named Yggdrasil."

"I heard about this tree before. But what's the big deal about it?"

"..." Without saying a word, Shōkan took her book back from Soma's hand with three of her fingers. Going to the page she was once on and began to read. "Whose branches have covered the world and supported the universe. Ygdrasil had tree roots going to each of the 3 levels of the world. Three springs supplied it with water. One root went into Asgard, the home of the gods, another went into the land of the giants, Jotunheim, and the third went to the primeval world of ice, darkness, and the dead, known as Niflheim. In Jotunheim's spring, Mimir, lay wisdom. In Niflheim, the spring nourished the adder Nidhogge, darkness, who gnawed at the roots of Ygdrasil."

"..."

"Ygdrasil is the tree of life." Shōkan explained, closing her book. "From it's roots, birthed the world. And from its branches, covered life."

"Heh, I still see nothing fascinating about this mythology."

"You should, at least a little." Shōkan insisted as she sat her knees on the couch as she sat on her legs. "I mean, even Fenrir has a base to Norse Mythology. The place you work for is named after it's great wolf, and even Fenrir's Terminal database is named after its goddess of fate, Norns."

"Norns?"

"There are three of them: Urdur of the past, Verdandi of the present, and Skuld of the future. They all care for the spring by the root of Ygdrasil in Asgard."

"Huh. I still don't see why you're fascinated by this tree so much."

"..." Shōkan got quiet, looking down as she began to blush in embarrassment. "I... I always wanted to be a tree, ever since I was little."

"..." Soma's shoulders began to shake

"!" Shōkan's cheeks turned redder in annoyance, her head shooting back up as Soma began to laugh. "Don't laugh!"

"I can't help it, it's funny." His chuckles began to die down. He hadn't laughed like this before around others, if Kota was there to see him now he would say that the sky was falling. "(Chuckle) You're weird."

"(Giggle) You're weird, Soma." She began to laugh a little too, Soma's laughter was contagious.

"Heh, we're both weird, kid."

"Hm, weird is good I guess." Shōkan smirked back at Soma, unable to help herself.

*** Meanwhile at Aegis Island ***

"Hmph, that Aragami dare call itself Amaterasu." Karen huffed as she swiped the blood from her blade, letting the colossal Aragami fall behind her to its death. "It would even have the gull to show itself while Tsukuyomi is in the sky."

"Well, at least we got the job done." Yuu huffed, catching his breath as he wiped the sweat off his brow. "I almost thought the Aragami was going to trample us."

"Yuu, I thought you said we would have a second guy with us?" Alisa questioned, a fourth guy would have come in hand a lot during the fight. Did the guy never show up?

"Wah? He's been here the whole time, providing cover fire while shooting us Recovery Bullets and Team-bullets when we needed them. Didn't you feel them?"

"..." Alisa and Karen remained quiet at his answer. It was true, they did get random Recovery Bullets when they got hit too many time by the Aragami's colossal tendrils. And they even got Team-bullets that appeared out of nowhere.

Was Frederico here? That's the only person Karen could think it was. He was the only male New-Type in the Den, other then Yuu, which would explain the Team-bullets and the 'he' Yuu was talking about. Frederico had been training with the 3rd Unit, but she didn't know any members from the Unit that specialized in Recovery Bullets; perhaps he was dabbling in it on his own. He must have been taken sniper shots from afar to keep a safe distance from the Aragami. But... why hasn't he shown himself yet? He could not have gone home without making sure his team got back okay. That was just... bad form.

"Anyway, let's head back now. I'm beat, and there's a bed waiting for me back at the Den." Yuu instructed, walking off to the Starting Point with the girls close beside him.

"Right, I am a little tired myself." Alisa agreed with him.

"(Yawn) Sleepy." Karen stifled off a yawn as she followed her team. She may have been tired, but... she could have swore she heard the laughter of a young boy.

*** The Next Day ***

"Hey, guys! This is amazing... I came up with the greatest idea!" Kota came running up to the Entrance to announce to his team, sitting at the lounge area as they hung out after a long day of missions along with the other members of the 2nd and 3rd Unit.

"What?" Soma groaned out, already knowing that this was going to be ridiculous. Things always got ridiculous when Kota got an idea. But Soma would hear him out anyway, along with the others.

"Glad to see you're interested! Alright, this is an artistic method of ending the long awaited search for Lindow." Kota built up, trying to butter the others into his strategy. He practically gestured his hands in the air as if he was rolling out a banner. "I call it, the 'Lovely, Lindow-Luring LINEUP!"

"..." Everyone along the couch remained silent as an awkward sweat drop appeared on their heads.

"What?" Was all Soma needed to say to sum up what the others were thinking. He even added a quirked eyebrow for good measure.

"Hear me out. You know how Lindow loves girls?"

"Who doesn't love girls?" Shōkan pointed out sarcastically.

"Gays." Karen countered.

"They love girls, they're just not attracted to them."

"Anyway," Kota said with a cough, bringing everyone back to him. "So I thought if we walked around with a bunch of girls, he'd have to come out of hiding!"

"Sounds to me that this Lindow was a heart breaker." Karen commented, ultimately declining being apart of Kota's plan. "I rather not use my body to lure out a guy like that."

"Yeah, you have to take me out to dinner and tell me I'm pretty before you'll ever get me to try and lure a man I don't know out of hiding with my looks." Shōkan huffed sarcastically in refusal.

"I-I don't know much about Lindow, so I'm not sure if I should really join in or not..." Annette nervously declined as well, getting the courage to refuse Kota as well after seeing Karen do it.

"Wha? I'm running out of ladies." Kota pouted as he already got two rejections from his plan. Turning to two girls on his team he could count on, he put on his biggest smile and puppy dog eyes as he tried to coax them into it. "Come on, Sakuya, Alisa, I know you ladies could lure out Lindow in a heartbeat, what do ya say?"

"I can't believe you asked me to join you, with a huge smile on your face." Alisa replied in appall. "That sounds like the stupidest plan! Why would anyone think that would work?"

"Hehe, the Lovely-Luring Lineup, right? It's so Kota, I can't say I hate it." Sakuya lightly laughed out the the whole ordeal. "But now that I realized it... I guess that really is the image everyone has of Lindow (sigh)..."

"Aw man, you girls are out too?" Kota pouted, deflating a little as he couldn't get any of the girls in his circle of friends to go along with his plan. "Isn't there anyone who wants to go on this mission with me?!"

"I-I'll go."

"?!" They all turned to the shy voice of the strawberry blonde medic who cutely had her hand bashfully raised from her seat on the couch.

"Kanon? Why?" Alisa almost couldn't believe that Kanon was giving in to this ridiculous plan.

"... When I heard Lindow was alive, I tried my best to be as much help as I can for his search. But..." Kanon honestly confessed, wiggling around in nervousness as she shyly spoke with a blush. "I only seem to cause everyone trouble... since I was invited to the plan, I'll do my best to make it a success!"

"That's the spirit, Kanon! You're awesome!" Kota praised to her with a thumbs up before turning to Karen and Shōkan for one last try. "Is there anyway you girls would like to join in?"

"No." "Ha haha, yeaahhh, no." Both Karen and Shōkan declined at the same time.

"Come on, girls. I mean, you're pretty good looking yourselves! So please? Cooperate with us! Join the cause!" Karen payed no mind to Kota's words, but Shōkan on the other hand got offended as she shot up from her seat.

"What?! What do you mean 'pretty good looking'?! Are you calling us B-rates?!"

"!" Kota began to panic, he didn't mean to upset them. He just wanted to butter them up, looks like he would have to work on his smooth talk with the ladies later on before it gets him slapped. Taking a step back, he outstretched his arms as he waved his hands in a 'no' gesture. "N-no, I didn't mean it like that! I was just-"

"Pretty good looking is what you call boys! You're pretty good looking!" Shōkan stated, walking over to Kota to poke him in his chest before pointing her thumb back at herself and Karen. "We're hot! And I'll prove it to you on that battlefield. Come on, I'll join you on this mission."

"R-really, that's great." Kota nervously cheered, relieved that he had just avoided a storm.

"I guess I'll come along too." Came the smooth voice of Gina as she got up to join the other two girls.

"Gina-neesan you can't be serious." Karen raised an eyebrow at her older cousin in disbelief.

"When stupidity goes this far, it's kinda fun." Gina replied to her cousin with a smirk before going in the Mission Elevator with the others.

"This is ridiculous." Soma grunted before turning his head toward Yuu. "Stop them, Leader."

"I'm washing my hands of this." Yuu said, shaking his head and lifting his hands in a 'I'm not touching this' gesture. "Let Kota have his fun. Who knows, it might even work."

"Hmph, I doubt it." Soma grunted before turning his head away.

"Since most of the group is gone, I'm going back to my room to upgrade my equipment." Karen announced to the remaining group as she got up from her seat to leave.

"Hey, if you got the time, that's sublime." Yuu said to her in rhyme, making the others shack their heads at his lame quote.

"..."

"It's terrible, I know. But it's what I got out of the blue. Have fun upgrading, Karen."

"Hn, sayonara." Karen walked off from the others, going into the elevator as she took it down to her Floor.

As she was getting out of the elevator, once she hit her stop, she was halted from her progress by the sight of her cousin Shun and his friend Karel sitting by the Floor's snack lounge. Karel was sitting on the bench by the vending machines while Shun stood by the soda machine, deciding on his purchase.

"(Sigh) I'm thirsty. Shun, buy me something." Karel groaned out to his friend.

"Get your own drink. You got paid for the same mission as me, I'm not treating you." Shun refused as he looked over his options.

"Come on, don't be stingy."

"Heh, this coming from the guy who gives out less in a Link-Aid than me. I'm not treating you!" Shun huffed to his buddy before spotting Karen from the corner of his eyes. "?!"

"Well look who it is, the new wonder shot from the First Unit." Karel greeted to her in a slight tease. "Glad to see you again."

"Hmph," Karen huffed at them, from the hot breath of her nose. She planned to just ignore them and walk on by, but it would seem life had other plans...

"Dang it! I accidentally got that crappy 'First Love Juice' instead. That stuff makes me wanna puke." Shun huffed aloud to no one in particular before looking over to Karen and gently tossing the can to her. "Here."

"?!" She caught the can without a problem, it's cool condensation soaked into her fingers. She wondered why he was giving it to her. Perhaps in the hope that it would make her sick since it made him sick?

"I hear you like that nasty stuff, right? You'll need the energy from all those missions you guys in the First Mission have been doing lately."

"?!" Was... was he being nice?

"She gets a can and I don't?" Karel teased to Shun with a grin, trying to get under his skin.

"Zip it, Karel." Shun growled, crossing his arms as he looked away from the both of them, his cheeks slightly flushing. "I just don't like the idea of wasting money, is all."

"..." Karen didn't know what to make of this. His gesture was crude, but the kindness was still there... "Thanks..."

"!" Shun's eyes widened in shock at his little cousin's awkward attempt of a polite gesture toward him. Even though she had rushed to her room immediately after saying it, she still was nice enough to say to him in English like he preferred. Karen never listened to him, and she was never really ever genuinely polite towards him.

"Looks like you're starting to win her over."

"Shut up, Karel." Shun groaned at his friend before tossing him a cold soda fresh out of the machine. "Here. Now get off my back."

Back in her room, Karen contemplated what had just happened. Her mind began to wonder as she was changing her Healer Control Unit to Medic. What could have brought this on, was her cousin always like this? She remembers him being rude and crude like a jerk when she was little, but she had never recalled ever seeing kindness hidden behind his actions. Was this behavior new? Or perhaps was it there and she just hadn't seen it? Karen remembered her father saying something about this...

"[Shun, you'll never get better if you don't fix your attitude.]" Her father barked to her cousin Shun as she was about to enter into the dojo area.

"Why should the way I am effect my skill?! My body works with a sword perfectly fine the way I am! You've seen it yourself, I'm one of the best students you have!" Shun barked back rudely at her father, not even speaking the traditional Japanese. Shun had always found the old way ridiculous, he was still forced to learn it but he wanted to stay with the times. And with the times, the old languages of the past were dying out.

"[Your mind represents the state of your blade. It is an extension of your body, control in a flow like the rest of your body through your mind. If your mind is filtered and dilute, your skill will be the same way.]" Her father shot back at him, making Shun's body shake in embarrassing anger. "[You're a stubborn child, hotheaded, and reckless. Until you're able to pull yourself together, you will never be the best here or 'your' best.]"

"Grh, Backwards Old Man, what do you know?!" Shun huffed out in outrage as he got up from his place in seizan and stomped out of the dojo, not even bowing in respect as he stormed out. "I am the best, I've proven my worth!"

"!" Karen slightly flinched as Shun finally made his way to her. At her age he was an intimidating figure as she had to look up to see his face and his body was bigger than hers. He was always rude to her when ever he came to visit, at times it felt like it would come out of nowhere. They would simply be hanging around each other, minding their own business, when he would start randomly picking on her for nothing. Shun was unpredictable, a storm in the body of a boy. But one thing about Shun that Karen knew for sure... he was a big jerk.

"Hmph, out of my way, Small-fry." Shun huffed to her, moving her aside as he marched out of the dojo and back to the compound.

Her father sighed from in the dojo, pinching his nose and shaking his head in exhaustion from his place at the Sensei's mat. Bowing before entering, Karen quickly walked to where Shun was once sitting, getting into seizan instead of running to her father, out of respect for her father while in the dojo.

"[(Sigh) Sometimes I wish that boy didn't inherit his father's stubbornness. When will I ever get through to him?"] Her father said rhetorically aloud to himself.

"[I don't understand why you even bother to train him, Father...]" Karen huffed as her little face scrunched up in anger at seeing how distressed Shun made her father. "[He's just a big, stupid jerk.]"

"[Hey now, watch it. He's family.]" Her father immediately shushed her in disappointment at her choice of words. "[He may be big to you, and sometimes hard to understand, but he's not stupid.]"

"[But, Father...]" Karen pouted at his sudden disapproval.

"[Listen, Karen. Sometimes the hardest battle is with yourself.]"

"[What do you mean?]"

"[Sometimes we see with our eyes, other times we see with our hearts. But before we can see through our heart's eye we must first find ourselves.]" Her father explained. "[It's hard at times, nearly impossible for others. Shun's just having a hard time finding himself because the answer whispers, so he needs to listen closely. But the boy has the potential to find it, when the time comes you will see what I mean.]"

Karen was silent for several minutes, thinking it over. "[(Exhale) I don't understand, Father.]"

"[Heh, you will, my child. You will.]"

Before Karen even knew it, she had changed her Upgrades to Ranged Kit 2 and OP Kit 3. What has gotten in to her? She had normally never let her mind wander around like this before. Perhaps... she was in need of meditation. A good brew of Oolong tea would help clear her mind, and perhaps help bring her to the answer of why her cousin was changing, why now was he deciding to grow...

*** Later in the Entrance ***

It had been awhile since the four member team had left. The others had busied themselves to bite off the time. The girls had gathered together to gossip among themselves, Yuu had occupied himself with some old Shounen Magazines, and Soma had zoned out the rest of the world as he listened to music on his MP3 player on his phone through earphones. But he wouldn't be able to zone out the world for long as Shōkan came storming into the Entrance like a bat out of hell.

"Well that had went just perfect!" She growled out sarcastically to herself as she stomped over to the other elevator, ignoring the concerned looked of the others. "Stupid Sariel! Stupid Backup! Ugh, I wanna bite somebody in the face!"

"S-Shōkan-chan, please." Kanon said pitifully to Shōkan as she stormed off into the elevator. "I-I said I was sorry-"

"I am in no mood!" Shōkan barked at Kanon, putting up a hand to stop Kanon in her tracks as Shōkan left in the elevator.

"What the hell just happen?" Soma asked Kota as he nervously followed behind, after the girls, rubbing the back of his head in nervous embarrassment.

"I saw lovely flowers in bloom." Gina cooed in happy excitement as she passed Kota to make her way down to the stairway to head down to her room, since a storm had taken over the elevator. She looked like she had the time of her life, while Kota and Kanon looked like they were exposed in public in nothing but their underwear.

"Kota, what the hell happened out there?" Soma insisted for an answer.

"I messed up again..." Kanon pitifully answered as she seemed like she was about to cry.

"Shōkan, just... she just got to meet 'Cannon' for the first time." Kota awkwardly answered, trying to get the words out as he kicked his food and scratched his cheek with his finger in nervousness...

"Didn't I tell you to stay out of my line of fire?!" Kanon barked at Shōkan as she was getting up from the hard torque shot at her back. They had just taken down the Sariel in the Tranquil Temple area, but not without any minor injuries.

Kota was nervous this would happen, Kanon's other personality would come out. Unlike her normal sweet and shy nature, Kanon's other side was more aggressive, vicious and a loose cannon. Firing at anyone who got in the way of her kill. The God Eaters of the Den had taken to calling this side of Kanon, 'Cannon'. Where Kanon was kind and gentle healer, Cannon was a rough and deadly killer. He knew Cannon would have to make her appearance eventually, but he was hoping not like this. Apparently the new rookie's and Cannon's characters were clashing with each other, as the two of them couldn't get along even for a second.

"When the hell did you say that?! I didn't hear shit while you were coming behind me and shooting!" Shōkan barked back at Kanon. Both of them were coming into each others face.

"It was a perfect spot to shoot for me."

"I was there first!"

"Oh grow up! This isn't Elementary School!"

"You're the one that needs to grow up! Seeing something you want as already yours and just taking it! That's more of a child's mind set if ever I've heard of one!" Shōkan growled back. "You know, for someone whose name is a close resemblance to Kannon, you're not very merciful! If we were back at where I come from, you would be shanked for that!"

"Please, I'd reduce you to a hunk of meat before that happened!" Kanon threatened, boldly challenging Shōkan to make the next move.

"Is that a threat-"

ROAR

"Shut the fuck up!" Shōkan screamed at the in coming Prithivi Mata, not in the mood to deal with it right now. Throwing her God Arc like a spear she impaled the Aragami on the wall by the hillside near the upper stairway. Her Forbidden Iceblade had crushed the Aragami's core by the sheer force of the throw, dropping it dead before it even entered the fight.

"Oh dear God, that was a turn on." Gina couldn't help but moan out in awe at the sheer power Shōkan had displayed without even trying.

"Uh..." Kota just awkwardly stayed silent in the background with Gina as he had no idea what to do as the other girls went at odds with each other.

"I'll fill you with holes!" Kanon shot back.

"Are you challenging me?!"

"Why don't you take your best shot instead of talking, you sack of meat?!" Kanon challenged as they both got in each others face, puffing up chest to chest. "You name when and where!"

"Oh yeah?!"

"Yeah, because when you get there you are DEAD!" They were practically screaming at each other as their foreheads wrestled one another.

"Bitch, I will destroy you." Shōkan whispered loudly with venom as her eyes slanted. The look on her face had sent a chill through Kota's spine.

"I think they get along smashingly well." Gina commented, making Kota stare at her as if she had just sprouted a second head. And to make matters worse, the vicious edge in Kanon's eyes had left her as they took on a more docile form.

"Wha-what? Uhm... W-what's going on?" Kanon had switched back to normal.

"Anyway, Shōkan just needs time to cool down," Kota finished off his explanation. "She doesn't want to get angry at Kanon for something that wasn't 'her' fault."

"Hn, I take it your plan was a bust." Soma concluded with a smirk at being proven right.

"Yeah. (Sigh) We got no Lindow to show for it in the long run." Kota sighed out, flopping his upper half down in disappointment as he let his arms dangle for a second. "Why? What was wrong? What went wrong? My Lovely Luring Lindow-Lineup failed!"

"... A lot was missing." Was all Yuu could let out, not wanting to bring Kota downer than he already was.

"Hm, so girls weren't enough for him, huh?" Suddenly Kota shot up again as he was hit with an epiphany. "Oh! I know! I'll add beer to that next time! I'll call it... The 'Lovely Luring Lindow Lineup, Round 2!' Yeah!"

"He's really thinking of a Round 2..." Soma groaned out in exhaustion before looking at Yuu almost pleadingly. "Stop him before he gets hurt, Leader."

"Yeah, I'm gonna have to put my foot down on this one." Yuu sighed, getting up and stretching before making his way over to Kota. "The last thing we need is God Eaters going on a mission like that drunk, let alone if they try to get the Aragami drunk."

*** Author's Notes ***

Amaterasu is one of the main kami of ancient Japanese Shinto religion, goddess of the sun. Born from when her father, Izanagi, tried to rescue his wife, Izanami, from the Underworld after dying from childbirth but failed. Returning to the surface, he washed off the filth of the Underworld and from that Amaterasu was born when he washed out his left eye. Later Izanagi would create two more children which would be the brothers of Amaterasu.

The mention of Tsukuyomi, the god of the moon, is based off the story of why the sun and the moon never meet in the sky. The younger brother of Amaterasu and the second child of Izanagi, it is said Tsukuyomi was born when Izanagi washed out his right eye. In other alternate stories, Tsukuyomi was born from a mirror made of white copper in Izanagi's right hand. Tsukuyomi use to live in the heavens with his sister, but she never looked upon him again after she had sent him on a meeting feast with Uke Mochi, the goddess of food, as her representative. Disgusted by her way of providing the food for the feast, Tsukuyomi had killed her. Angered by the news, Amaterasu never looked upon her brother again, always moving to the other side of the sky whenever he was present.

Sayonara= goodbye

Kannon is the merciful goddess in Japanese Buddhist pantheon, however she appears in many other Asian religions with different names. Her main goal and vow as a goddess is to end the suffering of everyone and free all sentient from the cycle of reincarnation so they could find peace enlightenment or Dharma. One of her most noted lines in her legends was: "A life should definitely belong to one who tries to save it, not one who tries to take it."