AN: I...I...I'M BAAAAAA~AAAAAAAAACK. O-o

Yeah...Happy New Year I guess?

I just kind of...sat down and did this...it's longer than it should be...I just finished so...it hasn't been proof read or anything...there are some less-than-shiny parts...the fight scene especially...whatever.

IT'S DONE. That's what matters. I f****n sick of this chapter. I want to move on. I'm sure you do as well.

I Own Nothing. Except Alio. He's AAAAAALLLLLLL mine.

GUILTY MELODY

Belief

It was weird how one meeting—one conversation really—could totally change your life. He could learn to appreciate it.

"Oi, Alio, where the hell you been?" One of his friends, a fellow outcast, a Twelvie, grabbed his wrist and dragged him through the knee deep test subjects, all crowded and squished together where they sat on the balcony, the huge mechanical room where the 'performance' was taking place open before them. He let them pull him to where the rest of his Group was, squirreled away off to the side. They had actually managed to get a spot with a decent view, despite being considered the weakest and most pathetic of the Groups.

His Group welcomed him, some looking relieved, others smiling at him understandingly, able to guess what had taken him. Well, maybe not. They would never think that he had run into the King of all people, and now, technically, no longer qualified as a test subject. Adam had suggested that he sit with his friends for the performance—he could tell them what happened or not, it was up to him—but that afterwards he would not be returning to the division reserved for testing. He had told Alio just to meet him once it was over and he'd tell him what he needed to know from there. It was only as the former test subject made his way to the balcony after they'd separated that it really dawned on him just what he'd accepted.

He wasn't just an experiment anymore. He might not be free, he had just sworn himself to Adam after all, but he was. As the King's Vassal, he essentially outranked everyone besides a specific few. All of the followers, the test subjects, the scientists, his old instructors—none of them could tell him what to do anymore.

Ah… sweet, sweet pseudo-freedom.

He'd rather have that than be a test subject any day.

"Alio?" It was Sen, looking at him with concerned, dark eyes. "Are you alright?"

He smiled at his fellow, his poor, ignorant comrade who had been with him through what was probably the lowest existence of his short life. The expression wasn't as reassuring as he would have liked, he was still mentally shaken by his recent encounter, by the possible futures.

He wasn't a Twelvie anymore. He was leaving his Group members, boys he had come to think of as rowdy younger brothers he had to swat for bickering and occasionally lift from the mud when they were too dejected to do so themselves. Leaving them behind for bigger and better things.

His expression flickered.

"What… what about the other test subjects?"

Adam raised a brow. "What about them?"

"I…"

He'd already come to terms with the simple act of leaving them. He was already chosen for that unknown, clearly dangerous experiment. He had decided they would survive without him when he had realized his death was all but guaranteed.

"You can tell them about your new status if you want," The King shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me, they'll probably find out on their own once it becomes official. I'll probably only be able to get away with this because I've never done it before, and Yuu likes to spoil me."

He could read between the lines here. Adam was important and influencial, but even he had some rules he needed to abide by, rules he was already bending as much as they would.

He couldn't do anything for the rest of Group Twelve.

He'd been planning to say goodbye to them. Tell them of his impending induction into the mysterious experiment that none of them knew the truth of yet instinctually understood it wasn't something they wanted to be chosen for. He'd been prepared to watch the realization spread over their faces and deal with their inevitable misery. He'd already dropped a hint or two when he'd been too busy reeling from the news and unable to hide his own horror. Likely why Sen and the others seemed more concerned about his whereabouts than usual.

He trusted them enough to tell them he was going to die. Now that he wasn't…?

Could he really burden them with the knowledge he was abandoning them now?

"I'd like to save you from that," A hand was extended. "If it's alright with you."

He closed his eyes and sighed.

It was only abandonment if he forgot to come back.

"I'm fine."

He still couldn't bring himself to say it.

OoOoOoOoO

Shu was meditating. Or at least trying to. He was solidifying his inner self, sinking into a state where nothing could shake him, where he wasn't a boy but a King, and that's all there was to it. Just him and the phantom of the virus that shared a certain portion of his soul. He felt a gentle touch on his arm and opened one eye to see Inori looking at him with a faintly inquiring expression. He smiled at her.

Okay, so he wasn't totally alone. He'd already thought out this part of things, and having mentioned it to Yuu ahead of time, he was certain this was only going to boost his image amongst the followers. Not that he really needed any more of that.

At the very least, he could make this—rather silly and uneccesary in his opinion—ceremony or performance somewhat enjoyable for himself.

Behind him, in the Moving room, Shu could vaguly hear Yuu speaking to the assembled subjects. He addressed them warmly, his deceptively youthful voice carrying easily. He spoke words laced with poison and temptation, dark promises and an evil smirk on the face of a being that only resembled a human teen. Shu didn't really listen to what was being said, but he could tell by the stark silence aside from his mentors voice that he had everyone's absolute attention, and they drank up every word.

Whenever he himself heard the goals of Daath and the means through which they intended to achieve them laid out, plain and simple, he was both skeptical, and disgusted. What they intended for the world was really only a form of destroying it. Destroying it to, as they said, recreate it anew. New life comes from the dead, like the lush rebirth after the ice age.

But the world didn't need to be reborn did it? It was covered in life; so much it was almost overflowing. Sure, it had problems, but so what? Why did the creation of a new civilization have to involve the demolition of the one that already existed? What gave them the right to decide that?

It was cruel and selfish, and Shu was fairly certain most of the followers were pulled into this by the sugar coating and clever manipulation of the truth, carefully worded into sounding like some sort of great plan for the salvation of mankind, when it was really anything but. There are a lot of people in the world—a lot—and plenty of them are willing to believe that some girl and boy are going to bring about the Apocalypse to cleanse the earth and allow mankind to evolve into something greater. Greater than what, he didn't really know.

He heard Yuu say his name, felt the baited breath of the crowd, and opened his eyes. Show time.

With a thought, the mechanics of the Moving room were activated, and when he stepped from the shadows on a high up platform the walls and floor were already springing into place, forming stairs as he stepped onto them, down from above. Shu ignored all the eyes on him, focusing only directly in front of him, face calm, body relaxed and yet ready for movement at a moments notice. He moved like a predator. As he decended the stairs, crystals grew over the sides, crawling along after him, forming eerie black spikes and narrowing the path to barely a meter.

When he stepped onto the platform, level with his mentor, only then did he look to his audience. He sensed they could feel his gaze on them, sending shivers down their spines as he skimmed the many faces. The followers were the most visible, spread on the catwalks and balconies, a good number of them positioned close enough to be used as weapons, as Yuu often did. Carefully positioned beneath them, in such a way that Shu had to tilt his head back slightly to see them all, the test subjects were squashed onto a balcony of their own, watching him with wide, painfully raw eyes. He let a faint smile come to his lips, one that didn't really convey any feasible emotion, but oozed confidence. The audience all but swooned.

Yuu lifted his arm and a blood red apple materialized from nothing. He caught it and held it up, smiling his usual, devious smirk. "We are going to duel, you and I, Adam." He said. "There shall be no restrictions. Winner is the first to land a hit on the other. Alright?"

Shu tilted his head slightly, directing his smile, now more amused, at his mentor. "Sounds fun." He answered, shortly. Yuu's smile stretched, and he tossed Adam the apple. He stretched out an arm and the chest of a nearby follower began to glow, endless black and white ribbons—Void ribbons Shu often thought—exploding from within the light, coalacing in the Gravekeeper's hands and forming a staff with long, elegant blades on both ends. He twirled it in his hands before resting in a ready stance, facing Shu who still held the apple.

"Choose your weapon, Adam. Feel free to pick anyone." Yuu said, not taking his gaze from his opponent. Shu looked at the apple in his hands, as if thoughtful, and then a mischievous smile broke out across his features.

"Actually, I already have."

He turned towards the stairs, lifting his arm, empty hand open and beckoning. The motion drew the eyes of all those watching, and a soft, awed gasp passed amongst them. Inori stepped delicately down the stairs, followingt the narrow path previous formed. The crystals hemming her shivered as she passed, black buds sprouting from the jagged surfaces and blooming into eerily beautiful, crystal flowers. She had discarded her black shawl to expose her white dress, like a butterfly broken free of its chrysalis. The crystal flowers hemmed her in an ethereal kind of light, which combined with her gentle expression and beauty made her seem otherwordly.

Reaching the last few steps, Inori took Shu's offered hand like a queen accepting the assistance of a gentleman, and lifted her eyes to meet his. They maintained eye contact even as Shu tossed the apple high into the air, staring deeply into each other's eyes in a way that only partners who understood each other beyond the need for words can. Shu wrapped an arm around her shoulders in a kind of embrace, drawing her comfortably close, and lifted his hand—the black symbol darkening his skin—to her already glowing chest.

The amount of light that resulted from such a simple action momentarily blinded everyone in the room. When the spots cleared from most of their eyes, they were blinking in astonishment and rubbing them to be sure they weren't imagining anything. From the small slip of a girl Adam had somehow managed to draw an enormous sword, easily taller than he yet he hefted it over his head with one hand. The sword had the corroded design about its hilt that was typical of the virus crystals, with a metallic sheen across its wickedly sharp blade speaking of a substance far superior to mere metal.

It was a rather elegant weapon to behold, all in all, and fit Adam quite well if not the petite girl it came from—although appearance was nothing to judge a Void by. Sometime during the flashing of the bright light, Shu had caught the apple once more. As Inori took a step back, he handed it to her.

Adam turned to face the smirking Yuu, weapon in hand. "Shall we?"

The Gravekeeper only grinned in response. Inori glanced at both of them, expressionless, before raising the apple for everyone to see. She then brought it to her lips, as if to kiss it, only for it to unravel into golden ribbons and sparkling dust.

And the duel began.

The two fighters shot at each other at an inhuman speed, their respective weapons meeting with loud clang. To the human eye, they were a blur—a dance of blades and bodies. Yuu twirled his staff in a deadly display of agility, a feral smile on his face the entire time as he stabbed, missed, twirled, and stabbed again. Ferocious, yet lackadaisical, like he was merely playing a game. Shu, in contrast, gave mightly swings of his sword—knocking the blades of his opponent away or meeting them in a head on collision. Despite the size of his weapon his movements were fluid, and strikes he couldn't meet he simply dodged, swaying to one side or the other as if the attacks themselves were in slow motion and he need not be alarmed at all.

If there was anything the King seemed to have over his mentor, it was strength. When Yuu came in for a stab, he leapt into the air—a good twenty feet into the air—and kicked off a blue circle that appeared from nowhere as if it were solid ground, propelling himself down again with his sword in front of him. Yuu raised his weapon to block, but the sword cut through it like butter, shattering the entire thing and forcing him to deconstruct himself and reform several meters away or be split in half. Instead, the sword plowed into the platform, leaving a sizable crater.

Undeterred, Yuu pulled Voids in the shapes of twin pistols from the aresenal of followers, firing repeatedly as he bounced around the different platforms. Adam merely had to lift a hand, another blue, glowing circle expanding as a kind of shield from the tiny blasts emitting from the supernatural guns. Using more circles as stairs, he chased after his mentor, performing startling acrobatics in the air to avoid bullets and sending thin, metallic Void ribbons spinning after the mobile blond, as deadly as the blade in his hand as evidenced by the chunks of platform they sliced off when they missed.

Yuu grew bored of the pistols fairly quickly, and soon replaced them with twin rapiers. When they both landed on the same platform he sent jagged purple crystals at Adam, bursting from the floor in deadly spikes in an honest attempt to impale him. Shu twisted away from the overgrown needles, smashing one or two to prevent being trapped, and turned to find the Gravekeeper inches away from his back with his smile stretching to freakish proportions. In that split second, he overrided his mentors command over the crystals, turning them black, and suddenly Yuu was the one with crystal spikes sprouting beneath his feet, forcing him back when one nearly took his head off.

As he jumped back, a metallic ribbon knocked one of his blades away, sending it spinning off the platform to the floor far below. In the blink of an eye, Adam was at his side, his sword against Yuu's throat. As glittering red met brilliant blue, the two opponents smiled.

"I win." Shu said, one corner of his mouth turning up in a crooked smile. His mentor smirked.

"Oh really?" He asked, devilishly. The tip of his remaining blade tickled the underside of Adam's chin—but his smile only widened.

"Really."

Yuu blinked, and something red dripped across his vision. He reached up and his fingers found the cut, a tiny thing, leaking precious fluids just above his left eyebrow.

"First hit wins." Shu said, smirking as he withdrew his blade. Yuu stared at him, lips pursed, and finally gave an approving smile. He shrugged, letting the rapier fall from his grip and dispers, admitting defeat.

The crowd cheered.

OoOoOoOoO

When he entered the Cradle, Alio couldn't help but mutter 'Wow' under his breath while taking in the throne and the general impressiveness of the chamber. Shu smiled a little at this, leading the way to the chair and lowering himself into it, allowing Inori to perch at his right once more before returning his attention to his newly instated vassal. Alio stood not far off, shifting nervously from one foot to the other, occasionally rubbing his throat, as if marveling the absence of the collar that had so long resided there.

Adam had wasted no time leaving the Moving room once the duel had ended, and made it clear to Yuu, in short, no-argument statements, that he now had a vassal to do his bidding. His mentor hadn't seemed entirely pleased at being told what to do, but had smirked and said something like 'As you wish, my King' and disappeared. Shu took this as a consent do do whatever the hell he wanted—and at that point all it took was a tap from him and a little power to shatter that infernal collar, leading them to where they were now.

"So, Alio…" Shu started, drawing the other boy's attention. "As I'm sure you've already figured out, as my Vassal, you are essentially an extension of my will—people can't oppose you because that would be the same as opposing me. I suppose that makes you immune to the orders of everyone except for Yuu, Shuichiro, and possibly Haruka, although the latter for different reasons than the former." He paused to make sure he was understood, when he received a nod he continued. "I would mostly like for you to be a pair of eyes and ears for me—I can't be everywhere, and frankly I'm stuck here most of the time anyway. There are other things in this facility I'd like to know about, but I tend to draw more attention than is practical for simply observing. Does that sound alright?"

Alio hesitated, looking towards his feet. "I…of course."

Shu tilted his head curiously, wondering where the boy's confidence seemed to have gotten to. "Is something the matter, Alio?"

"Not…really…" He touched his neck again, an unconscious gesture. "I just…wonder why you would want someone like me around."

Shu's eyebrows lifted, before a crooked smile worked its way onto his face. "Ah…well…aren't we friends, Alio?" He asked calmly.

Alio's expression was almost sad, a kind of ironic half smile beneath shadowed blue eyes. "I don't really feel like I'm worthy." He admitted. There was a moment of silence, and Inori cast curious looks between the two of them, not entirely understanding the reason for the tension in the air.

"Shu…" She looked at him with concerned eyes. "Aren't we all…friends?"

The King looked at her, his dear partner, and at Alio, who didn't return the look. Finally he sighed and stood, giving Inori a reassuring smile.

"Of course we are." He turned to his vassal. "And friends trust each other."

Alio looked up in surprise when Adam offered his hand, the symbol on the back faintly glowing. When he wrinkled his brow in confusion, the King merely smiled.

"I know I'm asking a lot of you for someone you barely know—the road ahead of us is not any easier than the one you were following, and may very well be more dangerous—but I am asking you to follow me anyway as a friend and not a servant." A red, glowing light formed around their feet, but remained muted, as if held at bay as the two teens locked gazes. "And I protect my friends."

Alio stared at him, his skin prickling from the energy he could feel emanating from the King, threatening to overflow. He had no idea what exactly Adam was doing, what taking his hand would do, or how different he would be when this was over—and yet, meeting those red, gentle eyes somehow made him feel at peace, like his own misgivings simply gone. When he should have been terrified and supicious he felt…safe.

Alio took a deep breath and managed a faint smile, almost sheepish. "I trust you."

Shu smiled. "Right back at you."

They clasped hands, and the light was released.

An unnatural burst of wind and explosion of colorful ribbons of light made Inori shield her face, wrapping her arms around herself protectively until she could feel that the spasm of otherwordly energies had died. When she dared to look up, she saw the two teen standing there as they hand before, their right hands together as if in that funny custom of greeting she'd heard of, both looking a little dazed.

"Uh…" Alio blinked a few times, swayed a little, and sat. Right there on the floor. "Whoa."

Shu chuckled a little, and sat as well, a little more gracefully. "You said it."

"What the hell was that?"

"Ah…a gesture of trust?" The King shrugged. Alio stared at him with a somewhat incredulous expression.

"…You've never done that before, have you?"

"Would you be upset if I said no?"

Stare.

"Well I admit it was my first time trying that, and I wasn't entirely sure it would work but…"

Stare.

"Oh come on, I'm perfectly in control of my own powers, just because I've never practiced it doesn't mean I didn't know how…"

Stare.

"All right! I get it, I'm sorry." Shu, Adam, the King, was, for once, sheepish and blushing, waving his hands to ward off the accusing look. "Stop looking at me like that."

Alio raised an eyebrow dryly, before his poker face cracked and he smiled. Shu, as well, started smiling, before he started to snicker, and suddenly they were both laughing. Behind them, Inori smiled, pleased to see her beloved Shu and his new friend so at ease.

"Well," Adam said, as the laughter died down. "Now that it's official—as my Vassal, could you do me a favor?"

Alio shrugged, smiling. "What are friends for?"

OoOoOoOoO

Gai was contemplating his next move. Very seriously. As of late he had been far more preoccupied with maintaing order and protecting Tennouzu from the Gatherers than his own plans to destroy GHQ, and it was about time that changed. He'd set up a firm enough system that the little fortress and people around it would survive without him directing every little thing, and although seeing such a well-oiled machine made from scavenged parts made him proud, he couldn't afford to sit comfortably here in Loop 7 anymore. Fighting off Gatherers may have become just another part of the routine, but it wasn't going to last forever, and he knew that the longer he spend sitting back here in this wasteland the more time GHQ had to complete their objectives and prepare for their true purpose.

The Gatherers, and Gemhead as he was called, were sent here for a reason, and Gai didn't like the implications at all. His enemy was growing in power, and whatever it was that was stalling their plans wasn't likely to hold out for much longer. He'd only been picking at the edges of his enemies forces, but now he wanted to start hitting them where it hurt. He wanted to crack their great facility open like an egg and crush them.

But first he needed information.

For that reason, he entered one of the school labratories that had become their resident genius' official haunt. Half of the room was littered in machine parts, and the other half computers. They had been working on building a holographic hub for her to use instead of normal computers, but with their limited resources it was somewhat slow going. Tsugumi had almost made up for it however by editing the hell out of her computers hard components.

She sat there now, on a spinning stool with another of her robot prototypes in her lap—this one didn't look like a toaster for once. Even as she worked, she seemed to be arguing with Daryl via computer link with his Endlave about what color she wanted to paint the robot. He and Ayase normally dueled or practiced at about this time, and Tsugumi had made it a point to monitor them both from her computers. Apparently the duo wre both skilled in multitasking as Gai could hear crashes in the background though Daryl spoke in a completely calm voice. Considering Endlaves are supposed to be piloted by the mind this was somewhat impressive.

"I'm telling you, Tsugumi—neon green. That'll make people take a second look." Daryl was saying, talking over the faint explosion in the background. Tsugumi made an annoyed sound.

"And I'm telling you—if I want a robot that can be used to stealth then I don't want people to take a second look!" She applied a little more force than necessary to the little door on the contraption as she closed it, setting the entire thing aside just as she looked up and spotted Gai.

"Oh! Hey, Gai. What's up?" She grinned at him, her electronic headband in the shape of pointed ears making her seem rather catlike. The leader of the Undertakers returned the smile before getting to business.

"I was hoping you could hack into GHQ files for me and retrieve anything having to do with something called 'Daath'."

"'Daath'?" Daryl, who was listening, asked from the computer. "What's that?"

"Why should it matter? And this is a private conversation!" Tsugumi scolded him, but even so she didn't move to cut the connection.

"It's a supposedly secret department of GHQ," Gai explained to both of them. "I believe they are the ones responsible for the Gatherers, therefore they are dangerous and the more we know about them the better."

"I see." Tsugumi nodded understandingly. "Well then, count on me! I'll turn those computers inside out if they think they can hide anything from me!"

Gai smiled and thanked her, leaving the petite genius to her devices as she set to work, already resuming an argument with Daryl as her hands flew over the multiple keyboards.

As Gai made his way down the halls of Tennouzu, he was joined by Shibungi, his second-in-command, most trusted, and experienced advisor.

"So…" The man started in a casual tone of voice, as if speaking about the weather. "Do you think we can handle GHQ and all of its assets as we are, should the need arise?"

Gai gave a confident smile. "Absolutely."

OoOoOoOoO

Alio eyed the folder in his hand with nothing less than pleased astonishment. It'd been almost too easy to get this information with Adam's authority backing him up, and he had to admit, it was incrediably satisfying to watch people's reaction to his new position. The followers he'd had to go through to get access to the databases had been initially disbelieving, but when they saw the King's symbol that had appeared on his neck they were very reluctant to question his word.

Others might see it as just another collar, but Alio didn't. To him, it was more like a badge of honor, and he was proud to wear it. Adam had said it was merely a side effect of the power he had shared, which Alio was certain would not have been possible if he was not previously a test subject and thus already somewhat occustomed to the virus and its strange powers. That being said, he felt strangely light on his feet, a kind of tingling weightlessness had taken over his entire body since having so much power shoved into it—somewhere between pleasantly invigorating and uncomfortable. He hoped he'd be able to get used to it soon, since feeling so damn strong couldn't possibly be good for his ego.

As he entered the Cradle chamber he wasn't surprised to see Adam reclining on his chair with Inori at his side, her arms wrapped around a bundle that she rested her chin on as she listened. They both looked up as he approached.

"Back already?" Shu asked, standing. It'd been less than an hour since his Vassal had left.

"Yup. Got what you wanted." Alio waved the folder around. "You should've seen the way the followers looked at me when I told them who I was."

The King smiled and accepted the folder, gesturing to Inori. "We have something for you, if you don't mind. Why don't you try it on?"

Alio lifted an eyebrow as Inori took him by the wrist and pulled him around the side of the crystal monolith surrounding the Cradle's throne. She handed him the bundle.

"You should look the part." She said, stepping back. It sounded like she was repeating Adam's words.

Alio wasn't surprised—supernatural tattoo or not, he still looked like a test subject—and unfolded the clothing without complaint. It looked a lot like the uniforms the followers wore except…darker. Less white and more grey and black. The shirt collar was open so the symbol on his neck was still visible, and it came with a distinct, short-sleeved white coat of sorts, somehat like Adam's regalia except shorter, lighter, and less intricate. It certainly set him apart from the normal followers.

"It looks nice." Inori said, regarding him with a tilted head as he tugged on the front of the coat. His lips twitched.

"You're style sense is comforting." He fiddled with his sleeves. "This feels so weird."

"There should be gloves in the pockets." She pointed at his coat. "Shu said you'd like them."

Alio reached into the coat and produced black, reinforced gloves with white across the knuckles. His King was right—he did like them. He smiled as he pulled them on, flexing his hands in the material. Inori gave him another sideways look and suddenly reached over to push his bangs out of his face. Startled, he leaned away.

"What?"

"I want to see your eyes." She said simply.

"You can see them fine from over there."

"Your hair is in the way."

He twitched. "And?"

She gave him an oddly steadfast look for someone so naïve, and suddenly used both hands to force his hair back from his forehead and stare straight into his eyes. "Don't hide." She said.

He gave her a flat look. "I'm not hiding." He muttered. He let her mess with his hair some more, so it wasn't as obscuring as usual, and when she stood back she looked satisfied.

"Better."

He blew upward at the black locks and crossed his arms. "What does it matter how visible my face is?"

She blinked. "But you're pretty."

Alio resisted the urge to smack himself. "That's not something you say to a guy…" He groaned. Inori just tilted her head, not comprehending.

In front of the Cradle, Shu chuckled softly at their banter, though the fleeting smile slipped from his face as he resumed reading the file. He'd asked Alio to get this mainly because no one knew he had a Vassal yet, and would overlook the breach in security until it was too late. Glancing at the name at the top of the first page, his lip quirked in notalgia.

Gai Tsutsugami.

He was right in his assumption that his old friend had at some point been involved with Daath—according to these, he was apart of the original attempts at creating Adam. The fact that the file ended with a brief, impersonal statement about the test subject escaping and subsequently dying during pursuit made it clear that Daath had no idea he still lived. The date fit with Shu's memories of the time he and Mana discovered the boy on the beach, all that time ago.

He turned the page, skimming the heading, and froze.

Adoption…?

He read more in depth, eyebrows rising. Shuichiro adopted Gai?

That would make him my… Shu smiled a little, faintly. I guess we were family to begin with, huh, Triton?

He still thought of Gai as a brother more than anything else, but he found it somehow amusing that he would fish his own cousin out of the ocean. If that wasn't fate, then what was? On the other hand, he would never want to be Shuichiro's son. The man hadn't seemed to take the title as anything more than a right of ownership anyway, if the experimentation papers meant anything.

Shu sighed, closing the filed and tucking it beneath his arm. He turned back to his companions—Inori was trying to get Alio to climb onto the crystal with her—stepping closer to get their attention.

"Thank you for getting this for me, Alio." Shu said gratefully. "Now, if you don't mind, we are going to pay a visit to the Anti-Bodies division."

Alio shrugged, Inori hopped off the crystal and linked arms with her King, and all three of them left the room together.

OoOoOoOoO

AN:

FINALLY. This chapter...was originally apart of the previous chapter...and yet it came out so LONG. You see why it had to be made its own chapter? You see?

I'm not good at fight scenes. I like watching them, and I thought they should of had more in this series, but I'm crap at writing them. But, anh, at least I tried.

As for comedy relief, I felt like pointing out that Inori doesn't know the difference between 'pretty' and 'handsome', or things like it. And the staring contest. I liked that part.

Let's see if I can't keep myself out of Purgatory long enough to get out the next few chapters, hm...?

Read, review, respond, rrrrrr~~~~~~Do You LIKE CAKE? I'm making a Trifle RIGHT NOW actually... I DO NOT HAVE AN ATTENTION DISORDER!

MB