Hypocrisy is the homage that vice pays to virtue

It really didn't take too long for them to get back. The little incident where he just recently tried to kill Noel was just a dark stain that the two would rather forget by now. Jin had calmed down, and as much as it pains him to admit it, Carl was correct when he mentioned that he had changed in more ways than one. This did not sit well with him, though he was powerless to stop the change in the first place.

Opening the door to the resort, both of them turned a corner towards the dining hall, all eyes instantly upon them.

"Geez, where have you two been? It's like everything became so disorganized when you left." Estelle looked at them, before staring back at the small commotion at the edge of the table where Rita had Raven in a headlock. Apparently the old man had been teasing Rita about something and this was his punishment. "And you two are soaked. You can't join us here at dinner with those!" Estelle continued urgently, "Come on, rooms are prepared. All your new uniforms are ready to use so at least try those on." She told them.

"I guess that's a private time to talk about things." Jin whispered to his Lieutenant, nodding at Estelle and heading out the door.

"You know..." Raven peeked his head up, "...Their stuff are in the same room. And they may be there for a while... changing. Think we could try listening in to what they may be doing?" Raven asked.

"Ha!"

And Raven's face was sent crashing down to the floor as Rita let go. "Ow!" the old man cried out.

"Give them some privacy. Not everything has to revolve around your sick mind." Rita looked down at him, cracking her knuckles. "Something must have happened outside. I mean, look at how odd they were acting."

"I am interested in what they might be doing there. Any kind of information is good information." said Carl, looking at Rita for permission. "I mean, if no one else could go. I'm 'innocent' enough not to get noticed peeking around and I could probably relay any information to Rita."

"I'm... coming too then." Sodia said suddenly, hearing Estelle giggle for obvious reasons. Ugh...

"I doubt there's anything important you two will find out there, but it probably wouldn't hurt to spy on them." Said Rita. "You two are taking full responsibility if you get caught." She smirked, watching Carl lead Sodia out the door and presumably, towards a way to spy on their close friends.

"Isn't Sodia acting a bit out of character to agree on spying?" Yuri looked at Flynn, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, like Carl said, people have been changing a lot in terms of attitude. And well, you know... love interest." Flynn shrugged.

He wasn't jealous. Okay, maybe just a little bit... but it wasn't something a Commandant of the Imperial Knights should worry about. Flynn reminded himself that this was Sodia's decision, and they are on vacation after all. Responsibilities and order can be kept at a minimum for now.

"You can go ahead and change if you want. I won't look." Jin said, sitting on the opposite bed with his back turned. Even as a member of the Imperial Knights, Noel hadn't been here long enough to get a custom-made outfit yet so Sodia offered to lend her one of her own uniforms a day or so ago.

Slipping out of her own wet, NOL uniform, Noel turned around briefly to look at Jin and sighed before reaching down for the uniform of the Imperial Knights. It's pretty much going to be the same clothes that Sodia is wearing right now, just without the armor to impede her movement.

"Hey Jin?" Noel asked, taking her time to put on the strange uniform.

"Yes?"

What was she supposed to say again? Noel kind of forgot. "It's nothing. Just... thanks again, I guess..." she said quietly.

"I haven't exactly done anything to be thanked properly. But at least by now, I can mend the relationship I have with my little sister." Jin told her.

"Sister?" Noel wondered, trying to get the stockings to come on properly. "So, wait... you saw me as your little sister?"

"I did say I'm going to explain everything I know to you. But yes, that's right. I may not remember much about my sister, Saya anymore, but you have her face. You look exactly like her." Said Jin.

Once Noel finished up with the rest of the uniform, it was her turn to look away as Jin started to change instead. She sighed, again, as she contemplated the events that had been happening. All these twists and turns, information she didn't even know about until now. It wasn't confusing for some reason, but there was still something she was dreading about all this.

"I never had an older sibling before." Noel said quietly, noting that Jin was silent as he changed into a dry set of clothes. He really wasn't the type to strike up a good conversation, with her at least. Once he finished, they both turned around, Noel chuckling lightly upon seeing him.

Jin was pretty much wearing the same NOL uniform he always wore... just colored differently to match that of the knighthood. The majority of it was white now instead of blue, and the yellow trimmings were now the color of the Azure.

"You may not be my sister, but the least I can do is treat you like my own family. Just know that doesn't mean I'm going to shower you with praises and act nice all the time. As your older brother, I'm just going to make sure you don't get into too much trouble in this world." Jin explained, sitting down on the closest bed.

"So... you're not going to call me names anymore?" Noel smiled.

"Don't push your luck. It all depends on what you do from here on out. Not because of any grudges I may have against you." Jin replied, standing up again and placing a hand on the top of Noel's head, just on her beret. "Come on, let's get back to the others, 'little sister'" he smiled at her, causing a bit of a blush to appear on Noel's face as she nodded in response.

Opening the door to head back out, they paused, seeing Sodia and Carl on the other side of the doorway.

"Oh... ahh... we were sent to look for you." Carl blurted out. Obviously that wasn't the case considering how fast his response was.

"No, you two were spying on us." Jin frowned. "How much of it did you hear anyways?" he asked.

"You didn't even say much, Jin." Sodia looked at him. "And saying someone is like your little sister isn't exactly that important to be kept a secret now is it?" she continued.

"Touché," replied Jin, walking past them before suddenly stopping in his tracks, "What?"

At first, Noel was confused by Jin's action. It wasn't until she noticed something about her own weapons, Bolverk, emitting a strange glow. "What's happening?" she asked Jin.

"I'm not sure." He responded, looking at his sword as well.

"Timespace warp, complete." A voice whispered.

Appearing from what appears to be a dark, spherical portal, two figures emerged. The smaller of the two, a young, blonde-haired woman straightened out, a visor covering her eyes. "Scanning area. Performing dimensional equalization." She continued.

"Grimalkin, do you even know what you're dealing with here?" the masked man asked.

'Shut it Hakumen. I know exactly what I'm doing. Stranding you and Terumi in this world would be something I'd gladly do, but I have to make sure he goes down first.' A voice told him in his mind.

"And what would you have me do right now then?" Hakumen asked.

'I'm not that familiar with this world. But from Tager's analysis, combat level should still be the same. How about you start with a little one-on-one? Lambda, go ahead.'

"Processing command... initiating." The girl said in a monotone voice.

"A cobbled-together doll with an imitation causality weapon. Very courageous, Grimalkin." Hakumen laughed, "Do you truly believe that toy can stand against Terumi?" Hakumen asked, bringing out his long blade.

'It's still a weapon to use. Even if it doesn't survive, why do you think I have you as backup?'

"Even so much as a facsimile of that abomination shouldn't be allowed to exist. Know that I will destroy it in due time." Hakumen said.

"Switching to emergency defense mode." Lambda whispered, the blades hovering around the girl began to rise up and spin around her.

The spar was short, swift, and quite brutal. For all of Lambda's long-range support with her floating swords and phantom blades, even Kokonoe knew what it meant if a critical swipe of Hakumen's sword managed to get through to Lambda: damage that would be hard to repair unless she returned.

As soon as Hakumen's blade pierced through the right side of Lambda's body, Kokonoe called it off.

'All right, that's enough. It's more or less within parameters. Knock it off, Lambda.' Said Kokonoe.

"Exiting combat mode. Terminating experiment." The girl said, again with the monotone voice as she backed off from Hakumen.

"How did it go, Grimalkin?" Hakumen asked.

'Yeah, I got some data to use for upgrading purposes later on. I'm going to have to leave you two alone for a bit. Just look around and gather information if you want. If possible you could try...' she paused, 'Hold on a bit, readings of three causality weapons are close-by... to the south.'

"Ah, so they are close to the area." Said Hakumen looking at the forest where south is supposed to be. "Perhaps we should greet them?"

'Do whatever the hell you want. Just remember that we're after Terumi here. If your friends have any information on his whereabouts, then that would be good enough information.'

"Very well, Grimalkin. You do not have to worry much about the integrity of the people here. They're willing to help, that much I know." Hakumen said, walking forwards with Lambda following close behind. Once he was certain that Kokonoe's will temporarily left, Hakumen whispered, "So you have survived, Jin Kisaragi. It would be interesting to see if you even changed at all." He chuckled lightly.

(To the anonymous reviewer who guessed Kara no Kyoukai from last chapter, yes you were correct. :3 Also, another short chapter, but I can assure you, next ones are going to be quite interesting. )