"Kenji-kun?"

"Yes, Emiko?"

"How long have you been in here?"

"Hm... Seven years."

"Huuh? That long? Can't you leave?"

"I can try..."

"Then why don't you?"

"My family is very poor so I worked hard to get a good education. When they learned somehow that I had Mental Manipulation, they offered me a scholarship. At the beginning, everything was okay, but I started to hate it. Then they offered to pay my family well if I chose to work here. So against what my family wanted, I accepted so they could have a better life." He said looking at her intently with his golden eyes.

"I'm sorry for asking." Emiko said with glassy eyes "I wish I didn't bring up something so heavy."

"It's okay. It's a truth I chose to live with. I'm glad you're here with me. You made my time here a lot more pleasant." The purple haired boy answered with a smile.

"Do you ever want to escape one day?"

"Yes. When I'm strong enough, I will."

"Me too. Let's escape together with Mara." She said hopefully.

"Okay. I'd like that." He said patting Emiko's head. "If any of us have a chance to escape, promise that we must take it, okay?"

"Then what happens to the one left behind?"

"We must come back for them when we're strong enough."

"You promise you'll come back for me if I get left here?"

"Yes. I promise, Emiko." He said and kissed her forehead. The door to the room swung open.

"Tengoku. You're up." A gruff man said.

"What will you make me do?" Emiko asked fearfully as Kenji lay a hand of assurance on her shoulder.

"Don't worry. It will benefit you in the long run. Come." He said gently. Many in the facility had a soft spot for Emiko and it hurt them to see her scared for her life, but orders were orders and their families were threatened if they didn't do what they were told.

Emiko followed the man before taking one last look at Kenji who tried to give her an assuring smile. When they finally reached their destination, he ushered Emiko in only to be greeted by a big green haired man.

"S-sir." Emiko stuttered to announce her presence.

"Ah, you're here. Excellent excellent. Sit over there." He pointed to the a bed in the middle of the lab that was well lit. A few metres away, she saw her friend Mara unconscious on another lab table. Trembling for her life and Mara's, she did what she was told.

"You're compliant today, aren't you?" He said creepily. He approached her and put his hand to her face. "You're quite a beauty. Soon your beauty will be known throughout the world." He didn't expand with what he meant.

He took a vial with a red liquid and connected it to a syringe. "So very lucky." He muttered. "So very lucky that Mara is an O negative blood type. It can be easily transfused into yours." He said happily.

"What? That's Mara's blood?" She cried. "The more you take, the weaker she gets!"

"Don't think that we don't know what we're doing." He hissed. "This won't hurt a bit." He said as he injected blood into Emiko's resistant body.

When he finished, Emiko was crying scared that she received blood from one of her closest friends.

"Don't cry, sweetie." He said cheerfully. "It's because of her blood that will make all your future injuries heal sixty-seven percent faster."

"I don't care! Don't you see that Mara is dying?" She cried.

"We're done here. Train her after seven hours. We'll see how it's taken effect then." He said not acknowledging her presence anymore.

"I'm talking to you! Mara is dying? IS SHE JUST A TEST SUBJECT TO YOU?!" Her collar started beeping as an indication that she was preparing to use her power.

"You use your power to destroy anything in this room, I guarantee that you will live to regret it." He threatened.

Emiko withdrew her powers knowing that he meant what he said, but in her rage, she slapped him using the technicality that she didn't use her powers for that. Before she bestowed another hit, she was sedated and the last thing she heard was:

"...Sacrifices must be made for a better world."

Emiko woke up with a start sweaty and with eyes full of tears. Her first thought was to check what time it was. It was 4:27 am. She lay her head back on her pillow and looked up at her ceiling. That was a memory. She was sure of it. That explained why her injuries healed so quickly. It was her blood. Why was she remembering this now?

'Kenji.' She remembered. That was the main reason she was set on returning. Not to avenge like she first thought, but to rescue. Here she was taking her sweet time but all along, there was someone she needed to save. She promised him, but how? She couldn't even remember most of her memories, and where they were located. She asked Kusuo once if he had heard of a place like that but he was as clueless as her. She started crying again but this time, she fell asleep.

She didn't want to go to school today feeling like crap. Her off behaviour didn't go unnoticed by her peers however as they watched Emiko walk around and do things aimlessly.

"What happened?" Yuuki asked Kusuo knowing that he might be privy to what she might be feeling.

Kusuo replied with a shrug, but he was also just as clueless as Emiko made a conscious effort to close her thoughts. Her attitude has been off since this morning. Emiko showed up without wearing both pairs of socks.

Her friends gathered around each other to try and find out what was so off about their friend.

"Emiko, what's up?" Chiyo asked her.

"Hmmm? Oh nothing much." She tried to say normally.

"Emiko, you're using a pencil sharpener on your chopstick." Aren told her.

"Oh, am I? Hahaha! That's cool." She answered enthusiastically.

Her friends gathered around once again baffled by her responses.

"Hahaha! Civilians. You will never understand." Kaidou said cooly.

"What do you mean?" Aren asked.

"She's been hypnotised by the Dark Reunion and it's up to me to lift it."

Everyone sweat dropped and let the matter be.

After classes, she went to her shoe locker and stared at her shoes. Kusuo approached her and called out her name, but she was spaced out still. He got her attention by putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Huh?" She said snapping out of her thoughts.

'You've been acting strange all day.' He told her. 'You okay?'

"Yeah... I'm just out of it." She said with a smile.

'Anything I can do?' He asked awkwardly. He wasn't the type to really offer his help.

She gave him a soft smile. " I just need time to think, I guess. I'll just walk around the city. It helps in relaxing me. I'll be fine, so, go home. Don't worry about me."

'You sure?' He asked hesitantly. 'I could... Keep you company if you want.'

"Very sure. I'd rather be alone." She said.

'All right.' He said with a nod.

They walked out of the school gate together before parting. Offering Kusuo a wave, she took off to another direction. Where she bumped into Kaidou leaning against a wall who had a vibe that made him seem all knowing.

"I know what is occupying your thoughts." He said.

"Huh?"

"The Dark Reunion has been getting to you too, huh? It's not a surprise as they have a plot to take over the world."

"That's not what's on my mind, Kaidou." She said with a sigh.

"I guarantee it is. You and I aren't like normal people. So it makes sense that our normal lives are disrupted by a dark force."

She didn't know what to do. She wanted some peace and quiet and here was her friend insisting he knew the answer to her problem when he so very, very clearly didn't. Still, maybe a change in company might be nice. Though she and Kaidou hung out, it was never really just the two of them so maybe, for all she knows, hanging with Kaidou might help her with whatever she was going through. She highly doubted it though, but Kaidou was nice guy who seemed like he needed people to talk to.

She and Kaidou decided to hang out in the library because he needed to study and she decided to do the same.

"Now that we're undisturbed, I shall tell you all about the Dark Reunion." He whispered. Dramatically, he slapped down a notebook titled: 'Dark Reunion: What We Know So Far.'

"Huh." She said trying to sound interested.

"Here is their symbol." He opened the book to the first page to show Emiko a logo of a wing and a snake he tried so hard to draw. Regardless of its ruggedness, she could make out its form. Her eyes widened.

"Kaido, did you make this symbol?"

"No. That's the Dark Reunion's symbol. I couldn't possibly make that."

"Wh-where did you learn of it?"

"Jet-Black Wings!"

"Who introduced you to the Dark Reunion?"

"Ah! He's a senior in PK. Mineo Nobuaki."

"What did he tell you about the Dark Reunion?"

"Nothing I don't already know." He said smugly "The Dark Reunion targets strong individuals who will join them for their goal to take over the world. If you refuse, you die. They want a new age of strong people to remain on earth by wiping out all of the weak ones. So it's up to us, defenders of humanity, to save everyone we have come to love and protect them with our life!" He claims loudly.

"Shhhhh!" The librarian poked her head from a shelf and glared at Kaidou.

"Sorry!" Emiko whispered seeing the Kaidou was lost in his world of the Dark Reunion. She wasn't sure if Shun had exaggerated some aspects of it, but it does seem close to their agenda and she was pretty sure it wasn't called Dark Reunion, but that logo... That logo she was sure of it. That's one thing she probably knew with certainty seeing as she was surrounded by that logo during her stay. It was in her uniform, in her lab gown, it was stamped in the many different rooms of the institute. So why did Kaidou and this Mineo guy know about it (though unknowingly so)?

She looked at Kaidou "Can you introduce me to Mineo Nobuaki?"

"What?" He looked surprised 'Could it be that she's willing to be a knight that will defend us from the Dark Reunion?'

"I need to ask him something."

At this point, Kaidou was so happy to have been able to recruit someone of the likes of Emiko. You could say that he was crying happy tears.

"He's not here right now." He said in a dangerously low voice. "He's on a mission somewhere top secret and won't return until next month." He whispered that last part.

'He's out of town.' Emiko thought to herself. 'Why is timing so great for me?' She thought sarcastically. She perked up. At least she got somewhere. At least she has a lead. No matter how long it takes, she'll find him. She'll find Kenji and rescue him like she promised. She would enlist for Kusuo's help, but he couldn't teleport somewhere he hasn't seen. It seems like they're also prone to his telepathy, so she thought she had reached a dead-end, until Kaidou. Who knew that his Dark Reunion actually made sense? Where did this Mineo guy hear of it?

"You okay?" Kaidou asked. "I've been calling you for three minutes and you didn't respond."

"Oh, yeah. Yeah. I'm okay. Thanks for asking. Do you know how Mineo discovered the Dark Reunion?"

"Well, he said he escaped their clutches when he was captured."

"Anything more?"

"Afraid not." Kaidou smiled. "It's great to see you so enthusiastic about this! When we defeat them, we will have saved humanity! You're a great ally to have, Hiro-san!"

"Y-yeah. Thanks." She said weakly with a smile. "I'm glad we hung out today. I learned a lot." She said truthfully.

Kaidou brightened up. It was nice that someone appreciated him. She was very beautiful, but a lot more approachable than Teruhashi for some reason. He was always bashful around girls and he would always blush around her, but she never made fun of him about his motives in life and supported him somehow. Simply put, she was a great asset to this fight against the Dark Reunion and a great friend.

'I mean, I'm sure she'd make a great wife someday, but Saiki already has a hold on her and as his best friend, I'll do anything to ensure their happiness.'

The two actually had a good bonding time as they studied. Emiko learned that Kaidou had siblings and that he was the eldest. His little brother was his favourite, though. He showed her his picture and he was so cute. Kaidou learned that Emiko was a master in the Martial Arts and he said that he wanted to gauge her skills one of these days.

"No offence though, Kaidou. You're not that great in physical activities." As she said this, Kaidou looked like he was about to cry making Emiko curse her bluntness. She expected Kaidou to suddenly switch attitudes and say that he was holding back, but he didn't.

"I know." He said dejectedly.

"I'm sorry, Kaidou. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." She said guiltily.

"It's okay. I'll tell you because it's you, Hiro-san." He said "I never really physically train or anything. It's because my mother expects me to keep studying. I have cram school three times a week and even if I'm one of the top students, she doesn't care because she thinks I'll slack off if I don't attend it continuously."

"Oh, I see. Maybe one of these days, you can convince your mother to cut cram school into twice a day and then maybe once a day."

"You're right, but my mom is a scary woman so it's hard to tell her anything. The last time I stood up to her was when I told that she couldn't forbid me to be friends with Saiki and Nendou. Even then, it was terrifying."

"Well, start small. You can't let her control you forever. What you did with Nendou and Kusuo was a start for sure. The days between your cram school, let me know when, I can help you improve your physical skills." She said with a smile.

"You'd do that?" He said with wide eyes.

"Of course! You're one of my great friends. And if we're going to defend the world from the Dark Reunion, you need to be in tiptop shape."

"I'm glad we're friends, Hiro-san."

That little time she spent with Kaidou helped improve her mood, but at the same time, it just made her even more distracted. She was thinking of different things Mineo might tell her and all these possibilities just seemed to terrify her. How can she just find out something crucial and then be made to realise that she had to wait a month to get any answers? I mean, she has waited this long.

In school the next day, she was even more out of it. She didn't respond when people called her name. She missed her mouth several times as she ate and gave unrelated answers to questions.

Needing air, she went straight to the rooftop of the school when classes ended and she was tempted to throw an energy blast into the sky but held back. She lay down on the ground realising her frustration. She wasn't upset that she couldn't find the base. She was upset because she was too weak. She knew it. Her spars against Kusuo were still too weak and most of the time, he used his limiter even. She wasn't taking things too seriously and there was someone out there waiting for her. Tears started dripping down her face as she looked into the sky. She felt so helpless and stupid. Her mind was all over the place.

'Why can't everything just be easy?' She thought to herself sadly.

'I ask myself that all the time.' She saw her pink headed friend look down at her.

Feeling embarrassed at her current state, she stood up quickly wiping the tears from her eyes with her right sleeve.

"K-Kusuo." She managed to say. "Wait! Can we spar today?"

'No.'

"Why?"

'You're not okay.'

"I'm fine! Please please!" She begged.

Kusuo sighed and teleported the both of them to where they usually gauged their powers.

Removing the ribbon from her uniform and tying her hair, she put herself in a fighting stance. Kusuo sighed again and anticipated her attacks.

Emiko flew towards in the speed of lighting preparing to throw energy blasts. When Kusuo appeared beside her, grabbed her wrist and flung her in another direction. Quickly catching herself, Emiko sped towards Kusuo again preparing to do a hand to hand battle but she missing every hit when she usually landed several. Tearing up, she cried out and prepared to launch an enormous ball of energy when Kusuo grabbed both her wrists and held them between the both of them.

'Stop.' He said sternly.

"No!" She cried "I can't! I can't!"

'Stop.' He said a little louder this time but she continued to struggle. 'Emiko, stop. You're sloppy. All your hits are missing and you're just throwing energy around aimlessly.'

"I can do better!" She insisted. "Stop telling me I'm weak! I know that already!"

'You're not, but you need to stop or you will exhaust yourself too much and you'll be at an even worse state.'

"I need to g-get stronger!" She wept looking at him with tearful eyes.

'Not like this. Don't torture yourself like this. I don't know what you're thinking since you've been blocking out my telepathy, but you need to stop hurting yourself.'

"You don't know what I'm going through, Kusuo! I have a past that I barely know! There are loose ends that I need to tie but I don't know how to! There's someone waiting for me but I forgot about him! I don't know anything! I'm stupid. I'm weak! I'm so weak! I can't even save a friend when I promised. I'm trying so hard to figure everything out but it only makes it more complicated! My thoughts don't make sense. I tried to distract myself but it doesn't work! In the end I can only think about how I'm such a failure. I-I'm a failure." She sobbed bowing her head to cover it with her hands when she realised that Kusuo held her wrists.

He didn't know what to say to console her, sometimes staying quiet and listening was the only thing someone going through things needed. He pulled her wrists closer to him and wrapped his arms around her small figure. Surprised, Emiko was pulled into a rare hug from Kusuo. Her eyes widened for a moment but then the comfort of being in someone's arms just made her cry again. She leaned her forehead into his chest and embraced him as she sobbed.

Kusuo just held her shaking body and rested his chin on her head as she continued to cry not saying a word. They held each other for a few minutes until Emiko stopped shaking. Kusuo looked down to see her with her eyes closed, presumably sleeping.

Whatever happened to have affected her like this? He carried her bridal style and teleported her to her bedroom and laid her on the bed. He removed her shoes and tucked her in and made sure she had a glass of water on her bedside table and teleported out.

Feeling a little dizzy from exhaustion and dehydration, Emiko woke up. She stood up to get herself a glass of water when she saw that there was one already next to her.

'What happened?' She asked herself. She then recalled Kusuo holding her... She probably fell asleep while he was. Turning red, she held her face with her hands not knowing what to feel. She was embarrassed, but at the same time, she was comforted when she was hugging Kusuo. She sat on her head feeling her head throb. She shouldn't have cried too much.

She stood up thinking that a shower might make her feel better when she noticed a small box of matcha chocolates sitting on her desk and underneath, a note.

'You're leagues away from a failure. Whatever you're going through will work out in the end. -K'

Feeling butterflies in her stomach, she opened the box of matcha chocolates and took a bite.

"Oh, Kusuo. I feel much better already." She said.

Author's Note: I sort of felt out of sorts when I wrote this chapter. Thinking of editing it but will see. Thank yo to the wonderful people who do leave reviews! I'll reply soon. My cousins have been over in my house and I've been bonding with them and this has always in the back of my mind since as I'm very curious to see what's going to happen with them.