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"All the rouge LBXs are gone!"

"Wait, there's someone over there!"

"Jin, they are…"

"I know. Are they hurt?"

"No…let's bring them to the hospital and let papa know."

"What!?"

Jin flinched as he pulled his CCM away from his ear to prevent it from damaging his ear drums. He waited for a moment until he was sure that Yuko would not yell at him again and continued, "As I was saying, Arata and the others are in the hospital now because they got caught up in a rouge LBXs attack which we are linking to the World Sabers."

"And you're telling me this because?" Yuko asked suspiciously.

"I have a feeling that it is more than that." Jin whispered as he ducked into the bathroom and locked himself in one of the stalls to continue the call before one of his friends saw him. "Some witness reported that there were monsters in that area."

There was a sharp intake of breath from the other side of the line. "And?"

"Nothing to connect them to the 'monsters' but enough to make certain people suspicious." Jin told her carefully. "But I think it is best that you and Muraku's father come over now."

There was a bit of silence on the line and Jin wondered if Yuko was still there. Suddenly, she spoke. "I'll be there as soon as I can. I might bring Muraku and Mia's father as well. Until then, please hold off any suspicion until my contacts can help me settle this matter."

"Thank you." He hesitated for a while. "And there is one more thing. It's about Seredy…"

It took him a while to finish up the call. By the end of it, he was exhausted. As soon as he left the bathroom, Hana ran over to him.

"Jin, where were you? I was trying to find you but no one had seen you for a while."

"Sorry, I had to make a call." Jin told her truthfully as he grasped her hand and began walking to the wards where Reika and the others were. Arata was however in a separate ward due to the fact he strangely suffered extreme exhaustion while Reika, Daimen and Muraku only had normal exhaustion and a few injuries. Haruki, Hikaru and Mia were found not too far away from Uluru unconscious as well. They were treated for several bruises but nothing major. However, neither of them could provide any useful information other than the fact that the rouge LBX were World Sabers LBX and Mia could not even recall anything, not that he blamed her since she's already in shock badly.

Hana eyed him for a moment but dropped it since he was not lying. "I wanted to find you because Reika and her friends woke up already."

Jin paused in his stride. "What about Arata?"

"Not yet." Hana told him with a shake of her head. "I don't know what happened to them that made them this exhausted because it is obviously not LBX battling, even on a large scale that happened at Uluru. But I'm not going to push it. However, Director Kaios might. So if you need to talk to them before he does, I suggest that you do it now before he gets here. He's flying in tonight."

"Thanks Hana." Jin pecked her on the cheek and rushed off to Reika's ward. Said girl was startled when he came in but relaxed when she realized it was only her brother. Jin closed in on her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I did three rounds around Mount Heiwa." She said with a light sigh. "How's everyone?"

"Passed out from exhaustion and various cuts and bruises for you, Daimen and Muraku. They also woke up already from what Hana told me. Haruki, Hikaru and Mia were treated for bruises and a headache for the latter." He paused and hesitated before continuing. "And Arata has extreme exhaustion."

Reika blinked but sighed in exasperation as she flopped back against her bed. "Typical Arata. Goes off being the hero and ends up worrying us when he gets hurt or something."

Jin cracked a smile. "I gathered so." His mood became somber. "I don't want to worry you and the others, but Director Kaios is flying in to investigate both the rouge LBX and the monsters. He holds significant suspicion regarding the events at Uluru and you guys."

Reika stilled at the mention of that. "I see."

"I also called Yuko. She and Muraku's father will be coming here as soon as they can. But I don't know when that will be. So you have to provide him with a cover story."

Reika let out a breath. "I'll talk with the others about it. Thanks for the heads up."

Jin nodded and headed out of the door. "I'll be back later to check on you after I discuss somethings with my friends. You can check on Daimen and the others in the next room. Haruki, Hikaru and Mia are also there, last I check."

"Alright." Reika huffed. As soon as Jin closed the door behind him, she threw off the blanket and peaked out the door. Satisfied that no one was around, she tiptoed to the next room and barged inside without knocking.

"Reika!" Daimen jumped from his position of sneaking out of his bed while the others looked slightly surprised.

"Glad to see you guys are alright." She breath out in relief and took a seat on the empty spot on the couch. "Arata is still knocked out though."

"What happened to him?" Mia asked worriedly.

"He'll be fine. He's still 'sleeping'." Reika reassured her. "I heard from Jin-san that you don't remember much about what happened. Are you alright?"

"Just a headache." Mia rubbed her temples in frustration. "I-I don't know why, but when I saw those LBX, I just knew that I've seen them before. And it was not a good feeling."

Either she was oblivious to how the temperature of the room dropped or is ignoring it. She grasped Reika's hand. "Do you know what happened? Why I felt like that?"

Reika let out a sharp intake of breath and glanced at Muraku who subtly shook his head.

"It's a long story." Reika merely stated. "Anyway, as to what happened at Uluru, after those rouge LBX appeared, you fainted while we were fighting them off. Somehow, you, Hikaru and Haruki got separated from us. And then some monsters appeared. I think we got exhausted from running away from them while fending off the rouge LBX. And Arata has not been resting well since Artemist so that's why he's still out. Anyway, the monsters somehow disappeared and we managed to defeat the last of the rouge LBX before we fainted."

Picking up on what Reika was doing, Haruki continued. "And then I think while we were running away, I think the remaining rouge LBX went to them and we passed out from the heat."

"But it was evening." Mia said in puzzlement. "It was not as hot as that afternoon."

"But we were out in the heat the whole day." Daimen quickly covered up. "So it's natural that all of us got tired out quickly. I'm just surprise that we did not get heat exhaustion."

Mia clearly did not buy it but she dare not push it further. She was beginning to realize that they were hiding something from her and it hurt. She quietly got up. "I'm going to get something to drink."

"Mia…" Muraku started to get up to go with her but she shook her head.

"You obviously have more to say but it cannot be around me. I get it."

Muraku and Reika winced while Daimen, Haruki and Hikaru looked away. With a forceful tug, she slammed the door shut behind her.

"I feel bad but we can't throw everything back on her until otou-san says so." Muraku said softly.

"Don't worry, we get it." Reika told him reassuringly. She clapped her hands together. "So, our cover story will be what we told Mia just now. If they ask for more details, say that that's all that happened."

"Alright."

They continued to talk about what actually happened and touched up the cover story before retreating back into their respective rooms before the nurses kicked them out.

Later that night, Reika, Daimen and Muraku had escaped their hospital rooms and gathered at Arata's while waiting for him to wake up.

"Oh Arata, why do you always need to play the hero." Reika sighed as she ran a hand down his cheek.

"That's him Reika." Daimen cracked a smile with Muraku. "He'll do anything to keep the ones close to him safe."

"But at what cost?" Reika sighed in frustration. "You just don't get it. Arata might be fine with throwing his life away for the sake of others, but I am not. He was not this bad. At least not before Maddie…"

She clamped her mouth shut as Daimen lowered his head. Muraku bit his lip when he realized what she was saying. He did not know much about Maddie other than she was Arata's former girlfriend and she is dead.

"Hey, at least he's still here." Daimen tried to comfort her. In an attempt to change the subject, he turned to Muraku. "So, I heard that you are ready to take the Aviane trials. Did Master Houjou talk to you about it?"

"He said that he'll talk about it after Artemist." Muraku shrugged. "Anything I should expect from it?"

"Don't expect anything."

Muraku raised an eyebrow in confusion. This made Reika and Daimen laugh, softly though to not alert the nurses that they were in there.

"That was the advice everyone got before they took their Aviane Trials. It made not make any sense now, but it will when the time is right." Reika smirked.

"And by the time it makes sense, you'll be either disappointed or happy with your Aviane."

Almost everyone in the room jumped and jerked their heads around the room, looking for the speaker. Muraku relaxed when he spotted a swirling shadow in front of the window.

"Otou-san, please don't scare us like that." He sighed.

Daimen and Reika sagged in relief as Master Houjou and Yuko came out of the shadow. Yuko had a mildly amused look while Master Houjou crossed his arms across his chest seriously.

"How did you get here so quickly?" Reika asked after sharing a hug with her big sister.

"Master Houjou's shadows." Yuko shrugged. She shifted to the bed and grasped Arata's hand. "How is he?"

"He still hasn't woken up yet." Daimen shook his head.

"What exactly happened? Jin was not very descriptive of the events at Uluru."

"That's because he was not there." Reika collapsed in another chair. She clasped her hands together tightly. "We were attacked not only by the Night Lurkers, but a Grim Lurker as well."

Yuko instantly turned pale while Master Houjou gritted his teeth. Yuko took a deep breath. "What happened there?"

"We don't know much. Arata disappeared on top of Uluru and then…the Grim Lurker appeared." Reika shuddered at the memory.

"How did you defeat it?" Master Houjou frowned.

"We didn't." Muraku shook his head. "Arata did."

"He had something in his staff that the Grim Lurker seemed afraid of. He called it the Fire Ruby." Daimen recalled.

Yuko narrowed her eyes in thought. "We'll ask him about this when he wakes up. For now, I want all of you to go back to your rooms and get some sleep."

The three of them reluctantly complied. Master Houjou, however, held Muraku back. "Rest up well. I'm letting you take the Aviane Trials tomorrow."

Muraku looked at his father in surprise. "Really?"

"Yes." Master Houjou told him with barely concealed pride for his son. "Get lots of rest. You're going to need it."

When Jin came to visit Arata's room the next morning, he was mildly surprise to see him already awake. But what actually surprised him was that Yuko was already here.

"I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow." Jin remarked as he sat down on the couch.

Yuko shrugged at that. "I have my ways."

"How is everyone?" Arata croaked out.

"They're fine." Jin said slowly and turned to Yuko. "Director Kaios is now talking to them about Uluru."

Yuko frowned and turned to Arata. "Do you know the cover story they are using?"

"Reika's telling me now." Arata said staring off in the distant. He blinked and then stared at the door. "He's coming now. Master Houjou is checking the others out of the hospital."

"Great." Yuko sighed in relief and stood up with Jin as the door opened revealing Director Kaios. He raised an eyebrow at Yuko's presence but ignored her as he walked over to Arata's side.

"Sena Arata?"

"Yes?"

"I would like to ask a few questions regarding what happened at Uluru if that is alright with you." He began, flicking his eyes at Yuko. "Privately."

"That will not be happening." Yuko said in a low voice. "I am his legal guardian. In case it has slipped your mind, Arata is a minor which means, I have a right to remain."

Director Kaios scowled and glared at Jin who nodded in confirmation of Yuko's words. "Fine, but I trust that you will keep anything discussed here to yourself."

Yuko formed a scowl but took the seat Jin vacated as he stood beside Director Kaios who turned his attention back to Arata. He asked him a few questions regarding the rouge LBX and the 'monsters'. Arata answered them patiently and consistently with the cover story Reika came up with. Once he was done, Director Kaios nodded in thanks.

"Thank you for cooperating with us. Hopefully, we can find the connection between the rouge LBX and the World Sabers, which brings me to my next point. For the past six months since Seredy has been arrested, he hasn't been cooperating with us."

Arata instantly tensed up and clenched and unclenched his fist to calm down. Yuko instantly went to his side, glaring at Director Kaios.

"Director Kaios, I don't think that this is necessary." Jin whispered, trying to change his mind.

"I'm sorry but it is." He replied sternly. Clearing his throat, he turned back to Arata. "I have a favor to ask of you. While Seredy refuses to cooperate with us in the interrogations, he said that he'll only answer to you."