The sun was shining once again in Heartland, and it was clear as the Archlight siblings were visiting the Faker residence today. Alongside their, now back to his original mature body, father.
It was a more than welcomed visit as well, seeing as little Haruto enjoyed III's presence, and the 2 were playing together right now. In the meantime, Kaito was having a nice chat with V, while IV was on the side, napping. Their father being inside the house and catching up on what else has been going on since the whole situation with the numbers.
"So, Kaito, any news you are willing to share?" V asked nonchalantly as he sipped on his tea.
"Not much, I'll be honest. Just the occasional mishaps with Haruto and so on" He answered, but somehow V looked a bit...disappointed. "Is there a problem?"
"Kaito, know that I am saying this as tactfully as I can. You need to get yourself a girlfriend." Kaito chocked on his tea, nearly spitting it out if not for his restraint. "I know this might be sudden, but you need to let yourself enjoy life some more." he chuckled, then looked at the younger siblings of the 2.
"Don't you see yourself one day sitting like this, watching your own children play in the garden, a beautiful wife by your side-"
"Stop," Kaito said, still recovering from almost drowning with the tea. "V, just, why?" He asked, but the older man simply chuckled. "And you even jumped from a simple girlfriend to marriage, for God's sake."
"Oh? It is not uncommon for boys your age to get a girlfriend, however, and you know you could use someone kind to Haruto. I do feel the boy needing a mother's attention as well." V said.
"Then why not take this up with my father?" Kaito asked.
"Let's be honest, both our parents are out of their prime." Somewhere inside the house, 2 sneezes were heard. "But you can still get on the saddle."
"Yeah right. I don't see you having anyone-" Kaito's words were cut by V showing him pictures...V had a girl...And she had a ring. "When did you-?"
"Shush!" V silenced Kaito rapidly. "I want to keep it a surprise for my brothers and father. She knows about me and my family's less...pleasant history, and I even showed her proof to make sure she doesn't think I'm nuts when I talked about the Numbers and so on. An awkward talk, I admit, but ever since I feel she loves me even more."
"I can't believe you did that." Kaito sighed. "So, is this about not letting your student fall behind or something? Or is it really about Haruto?"
"In a way, it's both. I am worried you might have spent too much time hunting the Numbers, seeking help for Haruto, caring for him, and so on." V said. "I just want to see you live your own life, Kaito. Who knows, maybe in a few years there'll be a little Kaito calling me uncle."
"V!" Kaito shouted, already sick of the teasing. But the older man chuckled.
"Oh, you were always so easy to read, Kaito. " V said,.
"It's not funny," Kaito growled. "Besides, there is no one even interested in me, and I don't think average girls will be able to tolerate me."
V stared at him in awe, somehow stunned by his words. "What?" Kaito asked, V's gaze set fully on him.
"Nothing, just…" V inhaled sharply. "I expected this level of denseness from Yuma, but from you? I am disappointed."
"What do you mean by that?" Kaito asked, but V didn't want to say anything. It was not his place to do so.
"Let's just say you are close to a girl who CAN put up with you," V said, a vein almost visible. "But anyway, not like she would just pop up at the door."
Lo and behold, there was a knock on the door. "Huh? Orbital! Kaito shouted and the little robot went to the door.
"Yes, master Kaito!" Orbital went to the door and opened it, revealing the 2 figures in it. "Miss Droite, Mister Gauche!" Orbital exclaimed, making V choke on his own tea.
"Hello there, little robot." Gauche greeted from the doorway. "Mind if we come in?"
"Master Kaito?" Orbital asked.
"Sure."
"Then come in" He greeted the inside, but Droite immediately looked at Kaito, and V couldn't help but sigh.
His point just got proven, but this coincidence was 1 in a million, so either some god was playing tricks, or Kaito was about to get lucky. Not that kind of lucky, though.
"What brings you here today? "Kaito asks, and Droite was the one to answer.
"We were wondering if Dr. Faker has jobs he can offer us." She said, Gauche rubbing the back of his head. "We ran into an...unfortunate event and lost most of our savings. We barely had enough to make the trip back to Heartland."
"Oh my," V said, concern in his voice. "What happened?"
"A bad investment, I tell you." Gauche answered, to which Droite elbowed him in the ribs.
"Where is Dr. Faker, by the way?" She asked, then the man in question showed himself.
"I heard someone call my name? Oh! Gauche, Droite! It's been too long!" The doctor greeted with his arms open, Gauche taking one for a strong handshake.
"Same here, Doctor." He said.
"I take it we have guests." Vetrix showed himself as well, but he was...well, no longer stuck in a child's body, that was grand. "Oh, it's you 2. Good to see you."
"Likewise," Droite replied. "But we are not here to catch up. " She said, cutting straight to the chase. She went on and explained the situation to the 2 men, Dr. Faker rubbing his chin.
"True, that is most unfortunate. Fear not! Luckily, there are suited positions for you 2 I can give you, so you will be ok" The doctor said, making Gauche shout out in glee.
"Awesome!" But another elbow from Droite set him straight.
"Behave!"
"You don't have to shout…"
"Either way, I will be on my way. I am going to go on a walk around Heartland." And so, she left, but not before giving an extra look at Kaito. V, of course, took note of that.
"I will be going as well. I think I am coming down with a headache."Kaito said, making up an excuse to get away from V's teasing. But what he failed to realize is that he set his doom.
"Ok, so who here knows about Droite's crush on Kaito?" V asked.
"Here!" Gauche answered first, putting an arm up. "Caught her muttering shit once about him, that's how I know."
"We do too…" III and IV answered, the 2 coming back with Haruto. "It is kinda obvious, not gonna lie," III said.
"Seriously, and I thought Shark had lady issues despite his looks." Somewhere, a guy nicknamed after a fish sneezed. "But Kaito is his own case." IV finished.
"I don't want to be mean, but brother is really dumb," Haruto added.
"Good to know my son agrees with me," Faker added. "Vetrix here was just telling me about the time he took her memories and stuff like that. I knew since the days Droite was still a trainee, but at the time I was more focused on the Numbers to act."
"Indeed. And I must say that - III, please cover Haruto's ears, please." III did as told. "Those 2 need to just forget it all and bone already."
Gauche exploded in laughter. "Damn right! So? How are we gonna do this?"
V put on a malicious smirk. "I got a few plans. But everyone here is to keep quiet. Even you Orbital."
"I cannot betray Master Kaito's trust...But I agree with Vetrix, they need to cyber already." Damn, even the robot was throwing burns.
"Then it is official. We are going to hook Droite and Kaito up!" V declared.
In the meantime, with the Ex-Barians Emperors. The group was 7 was lazing around, most of them not enrolled in the local school, only Vector, Shark, and Rio actually being enrolled officially, but Vector skips class a lot anyway.
"Hapchoo!" Shark just sneezed. "Damn, someone must be talking about me." He said as he was hanging out with the Barians along with his sister.
" Whoever it is they have nothing better to do than talk about your lazy ass." his sister, Rio, said.
" Hey now!" Shark snapped. " Who said anything about me being lazy?"
"I mean, you do tend to let yourself go after a while," Durbe added, further supporting Rio's claim.
"Durbe!"
"Give him a break, would you, Nasch?" Alito said as he was doing some phantom punches. "To be honest we are all kinda letting ourselves go nowadays since stuff calmed down."
"And it is boring!" Vector added as he was the one actually lazing around. " Seriously, nothing fun is going on anymore! All we do is kiss that guy's Eliphas ass all day doing his bidding ever since the Barian and Astral world became one!"
"I for one think it is a nice change of scenery from the fighting" Girag said. " We get to relax more.
"Oh please, you just want to waste more time enjoying sweets and watching TV." Mizael said, earning a stinging glare from Girag.
" I don't see you doing anything." Girag countered.
"Because, as Vector said, there is nothing to do really. Even now we are simply lazing around, wasting time, waiting for Eliphas to send some message." Mizael said.
"Wait, did dragon boy just said I was right or something?" Vector asked looking upside-down at Mizael.
" Don't let it go to your head, Vector," Mizael said. "But I must ask, Nasch. What happened to the threat Astral called us for? When we arrived in the Astral World back then, he immediately sends us away."
"Wish I knew." Nasch, also known as Shark, said. "He looked like he was hiding something, but I have barely any idea what. Heck, I was surprised when he used the Numeron Code to bring all of us back after all we did."
"That was indeed a generous deed from him. " Durbe added. " He could've just as easily used it to destroy the Barian world completely."
"Yuma convinced him not to. " Rio said. "I heard it was quite the duel as well."
"Still," Mizael interjected. " Something was amidst."
"Meh. Who cares?" Vector said. " As long as everything is fine and dandy we have no reason to do anything."
Alito sighed. " I wish you would actually do something once in your life."
"Excuse me?!" Vector snapped.
" You 2 cut it out!" Shark said quickly before things got ugly. "Even though times are peaceful now, it doesn't mean things will stay peaceful."
"True. We must be on guard and prepared." Durbe added.
"Just let them show their faces, and I'll show them my might!" Girag said cracking his knuckles.
" Damn right man!" Alito shouted. "We are more than a match for anything that comes our way!"
"Don't get cocky, you two," Mizael said. " We can still lose."
"When did you get so philosophical?" Vector asked.
"Defeat is like iron. It sharpens iron." Mizael responded, but Vector rolled his eyes.
" Anyway, I say we keep ready," Rio said. " Wouldn't want anyone getting defeated the first turn."
" That is true," Durbe added. "Besides, Eliphas has been fair to us, so we have no reason to complain. Despite our past, he was willing to forgive it and go easy on us"
In the meantime, in the Astral World, Astral himself was looking over the world, deep in thought.
" It had been a while since the incident, and nothing has changed. Whoever took it is not using it." Astral thought. " But why steal the Numeron Code, and who? Who could have had access to it without the use of the Numbers?"
" Something on your mind, Astral?" Kazuma, Yuma's father, said approaching him. " You look kinda troubled."
" It's nothing, Kazuma. Just the usual." Astral replied.
" Is it? Or is it about the Numeron Code being stolen?" Astral turned around, seeing Elphias standing there with a stern look. "I knew for a few days."
"Then why didn't you say anything?" Astral asked.
"Because we do not know anything either," Kazuma replied. "Whoever took it is not using it either, so there is nothing we can do anyway until they make a move."
"But if they are bidding for time? Waiting for us to let our guard down?" Astral asked, but Elphias simply brought up a recording from the Human World. Yuma already had his guard down.
Kazuma smirked. " Seems like my son takes after his father." he chuckled. "I used to have girls around me 24/7 when I was his age as well, although I never dared date multiples!" He said, then looked up. "That kid is in it for a whooping later."
"I thought you were proud of him, Kazuma." Elphias said.
"Not from me, from his mother!" He clarified. "She doesn't know, but she is bound to say stuff like 'I raised my kid better than this; being some playboy toying around with girls' and 'this is all your fault, Kazuma, for not being there to teach him how to treat a girl.' " He shivered. "I for one would like to keep the news away from her as much as possible."
"Still, what are we to do?" Astral asked, then Kazuma looked at Elphias, who then sighed.
"Call Yuma, Nasch, Kaito, and whoever you see fit of knowing, Astral," Elphias said. "They need to know."
Astral pondered on the idea for a moment, telling them the news of the Code being stolen. But now? They had little choice to keep the secret. "Very well." Astral answered.