Meanwhile in Great Lakes City, the Louds and Casagrandes were enjoying the Thanksgiving Eve dinner to their fullest extent possible, which didn't amount to much considering the context.

"Turkey skin-infused stuffing's coming round!" Lynn Sr declared, "Who wants up?!"

"Me! Me! I want some!" CJ waved his hands.

"In that case," Luna held up her plate, "lemme have some extra kick in my tamales!"

"Ok, ok! Coming round!" Rosa passed her bowl around the table, "Take all you can handle!"

"I gotta admit," Bobby nudged Lori, "This is a pretty cool Thanksgiving we've got going on."

"You're telling me," Lori nodded, "especially since..." and then her smile promptly faded, but she quickly shook her head, "...no, never mind."

"Yeah," Ronnie Anne whispered, "I know. It's ok."

"Is it really?"

"Well, no, but..." Ronnie Anne looked on as the rest of the familial gathering ate to their heart's content.

After dinner, the people gathered round the rug to share any stories they could muster. But no matter how bizarre or what kind of experience they shared, they always came back to the war.

"And then," Luan said, "me and Benny were trapped in this giant cesspool of human sweat and odor, like a fog blanketed over the sky and suffocated us in a musty wind of-"

"Ok, ok, enough!" Lola and Carlotta covered her mouth, "TMI!"

"So, what's the punchline this time?" Lana asked.

"Huh?" Luan raised her eyebrows.

"What wonderful punny one liner did you whip out?" Carlos pegged.

Luan felt so many eyes on her. She slowly lost her enthusiasm from earlier and looked down, "There wasn't one. Everyone fought for Royal Woods or Hazeltucky, so..."

"Whoa-hup-up-up-up!" Rosa quickly diverted the conversation, "How about we talk our Black Friday battle plan, eh? Anybody got any ideas?"

"Well, we could check out that fútbol game tomorrow," Frida suggested.

"No go, mama," Carlino stopped her, "Remember what happened to Papa last time he went to a game?"

"It's not as bad as you think, son," Carlos said.

"You got mauled by Royal Woods fanboys! How's that not as bad?!"

"Like you and your friends were any better!"

"I told you they were-"

"Please, enough! No more!" Frida stopped them.

Just in time too, because hearing someone bring the war into this conversation for the umpteenth time really got onto Lori's nerves.

Carlino pouted, "Well, at least I know I'm in good hands," then turned a loving brow to Lori, "Isn't that right, ma Cherie?"

"Uh, not with you," Lori said rather bluntly.

"Huh? What're you on about now?" Carlino asked, to which he received a very revealing answer.

As in, Lori revealed to both families in front of him, "You've been eyeing me ever since we've arrived here with that lustful gaze. To which I say, I will have none of that."

Everyone gasped.

"Whoa! Young perv alert!" Carlota immediately said.

"Dang, bro," CJ commented, "You're a lot older than you look."

Leni gasped, "Is he an really old man?!" To Carlino's annoyance.

"Nah, he's too short to be old," CJ responded.

"Will you get off my case?!" Carlino shouted.

"Shouting is a very confirmed admission of guilt," Lisa shook her head.

"I don't want any half pints gunning after me like that..." Luan muttered.

"You're not helping!" Carlino tried to cover their mouths, but he was stopped by Maria.

"Carlino, mi sobrino," Maria put her hand on his shoulder, "Is this true?"

"No, it's not like that!" Carlino stammered, "Just a friendly banter of life and stuff!" He then turned to Lori in a panicked state, "Right?"

"Wrong," Lori turned away from him, "It's not that different from using your sister's mascara to scribble my face on your belly! Spoilers, Carlota, btw."

"HAH?! So, that was you, after all!" Carlota reacted.

"Lori, are you ok?" Bobby asked, "You didn't react like that when Carlino tried to flirt with you a few weeks ago."

"Yeah, but that was before Little C here tried to pin this whole war on Lincoln," Lori retorted.

"Huh?!" Carlino quickly called her bluff, "I didn't say Lincoln!"

"Ok, that's enough!" Lynn Sr stepped in the middle of the circle, "No more of this war crud! We've all had a long month, so let's get our minds away from that, alright?!"

"Actually," Arturo stepped in, "I don't think that's possible."

"What? Why's that?" Lynn Sr asked, to which he was directed to a certain piece of paper Ronnie Anne kept hidden in her hoodie.

Until now, "It's an email Lincoln sent me before Halloween. He recounted how a middle school bully was pounding on Lynn...and how Lincoln had to step in and stop the fight."

The entire Loud family sat in silence.

Luna quickly tried to deflect the subject, "Uh, hey, I thought we were trying to get away from the whole war thing! You know, shoot a breeze, forget our troubles type thing?"

"Not possible," Lucy said.

"What? Come on! Anything's possible!"

"Not if he told Ronnie Anne," Lucy pointed out, "And if he told her, who else could he have told? I doubt that his friends overseas don't know."

"He'd have to figure out that that was a family secret!" Luna protested.

"Was," Lucy said, then turned to Ronnie Anne and Bobby, "Not anymore." And then everyone turned their heads in the same direction and read the email paper.

And their jaws dropped. Lincoln's description of that was word for word the sequence of events that occurred.

"So, this is the reason you've effectively blocked him from all communication?" Lisa asked Luan.

"Don't look at me!" Luan snapped, "It was Lori's idea to cut him off!"

"That's what Leni told me!" Lori shouted, "She misunderstood the order!"

"All I heard was, HE KNOWS! HE KNOWS EVERYTHING!" Leni said, "Lynn and Luna were the ones freaking out."

"Oh, just because we're the rowdy ones?" Luna retorted, "You have a knack for forgetting things!"

And the teens were trapped in an argument, while those that were younger than Lincoln could only stare at the email, completely shocked and awed by what was happening.

"Uh...that sucker punch thing..." Lana asked, "Did that really happen?"

"He told me so," Ronnie Anne said, "Sucks that Lynn had to chicken out. I would've gotten a ton of answers from her."

"We don't know that!" Lola stuttered, "He's just got a hyperactive imagination! Yeah, that's it! He's just making it up!"

"I'm afraid he's not," Maria scooted beside Lola, "I was the nurse who attended to him and Lynn that day. Lynn recalled everything, but he suffered a concussion that caused short term memory loss."

"Hah?!" Lola jolted, "But...then, that means..."

Rita noticed how Luna and Luan were almost at each other's throats and decided to end it before it began, "OK, THAT'S ENOUGH!" And everyone fell silent. Rita regained her composure long enough to make another statement, "Look, we're somewhere very far from home, and yet you've brought those antics here! Can't we get through one day without causing up a ruckus? We're guests at someone else's home! What would our hosts think about us?!"

"I know what I would think," Hector interrupted, "I think maybe you should leave."

This shocked the Louds and half the Casagrandes. Normally, Rita would be among the shocked, but with all the parties she tried to throw at the Loud House in the past, she never stopped thinking about that possibility, "There. See? We're out of here." She then turned to Hector, "I am so sorry for their behavior. I wish I could do something about-"

"I know. I know," Hector nodded and patted her back, "but we've been through a lot, as Carlino made very clear. I think...maybe this was a bad idea, yeah?"

"Yeah," Rita nodded in agreement, "We'll leave."

"Seriously?!" Lori protested, "Are we literally gonna just walk out of here like that?!"

Lynn Sr was just as confused, "We're not really going to...going to..." he lost his steady posture once he saw Rita touch the door, "...are we?"

"Do they really need to go, abuelo?" CJ asked.

"I think it's for the best," Hector nodded.

Meanwhile, Kim's team was watching more of the drama unfold, seeing some of the Casagrandes swipe verbal jabs with the Louds, while zooming a camera in on the letter email.

"Jesus..." Kim gasped, "He had his first brush with death early on..."

"Does everyone in that family have a demented sense of existence?" Akina quipped.

"Such is the cruel side effect of being a lightning rod," Tomoya said, "The path of a hero is often a treacherous one."

"You got that right," Akina got up from the couch and retrieved a bottle of water from the master bedroom, where she stumbled upon Akane, "Did anything happen outside?"

"I think so," Akane pointed to the laptop, "See that linear blur?"

Akina saw a very faint diagonal line coming from an alley, "Yeah...is that a laser?"

"One that can't be seen by the naked eye," Akane changed cameras to the parking lot garage, "and whoever set it up has a really good eye. It went through a window, and right into Vanzilla."

"That is good...Are they gonna jump them at the garage?"

"Possibly, though no one's come down there yet," Akane said before the group heard the door opening, "Go tell Kim what we found."

"Right," Akina jumped back into the living room, "Kim? There's a laser disabling Vanzilla."

"I know," Kim said, "We'll go down there together. I'll buy you some time to destroy the laser."

"Good deal," Akina nodded, "I have a pretty good idea where it is."

Kim and Akina stepped into the hallway just in time to witness-

"AT LEAST HE'S GOT THICKER SKIN THAN YOU, WEENIE!" Lola

"AT LEAST I AIN'T AN OVERUSED DOORMAT, PENDEJA!" and Carlino get into a shouting match.

"Carlino," Frida yanked his ear and dragged him back inside.

"Wow...rough day?" Akina whispered.

"Take the ladder," Kim nudged, then approached the Louds as they were leaving, "Excuse me? I'm from the apartment next door, and there was a lot of shouting going on."

"Oh, that's nothing, sister," Lola quickly spilled the beans, "You should've heard what was-"

"Can it, Lols!" Luna quickly covered her mouth and turned to Kim, "Pay no mind to Lola. She's still very riled up."

"About what?" Kim asked.

"Sorry, we've overstayed our welcome," Rita pulled Luna and Lola back to her side, "We should really be going."

While Kim tried to keep the conversation going, Akina sneaked behind the group, climbed out of the window, and jumped down, deploying and quickly retracting the wing units to land safely on the ground.

"Cool beans," Akina muttered, "Now, if I were trying to fry an old hunk of rust, where would I be..." she walked around the block until she felt a very sharp pain in her thigh, "YOWCH!" She jumped backwards, "The hell did that come from?!" When she bent over to rub her thigh, she felt a little warmth in her hair, "Huh?" She looked up, and although she couldn't see it, she could definitely feel the intensity of the laser, "Gotcha."

By the time Akina found the laser, Kim was already at the underground garage entrance with some of the Louds, looking slightly disturbed, "How could you?...Your own brother..."

"Shouldn't have told her our lives' story..." Luna groaned.

"We just did what came naturally," Lucy said.

"It's not like we could help it or anything!" Lola sighed, "He was just too easy to take advantage of!"

"By a cruel scheme that's technically been in the works since his first day in kindergarten?" Kim shook her head, "How is it you only now feel ashamed?"

"Ok, ok, we're not the ideal family. We get it," Lori grumbled.

"Surely, you don't have any family issues to put up with?" Lisa asked.

"Oh, I'm an only child," Kim wagged her hand, sending several eerie eyes towards her, causing her to mask a not-so-subtle grin, "Oh...did I touch a few nerves?"

Thankfully, Lynn Sr and Lana came back to them with some news.

"So, someone fried the pistons and spark plug, and cut several wires," Lana said, "We don't know what'll happen if we start'er up."

"In other words, we're stuck in this rotten building," Lynn Sr pouted.

While the other Louds voiced their complaints, Kim tapped her ear and silently whispered her concern, "Akina? Did you find the laser?"

"Yep," Akina commed back, "Already destroyed, and very high quality tech. Whoever did this must've really not wanted them to leave."

"Which means, we may be dealing with a dangerous group of criminals," Kim mused, "Go back inside. I fear they may have already made their move."

"We're already tracking them," Tomoya suddenly interrupted, "Two perpetrators entering from the window, and a faint IS signature 10km west of here."

"Does that mean?..." Akina seemed a little too hopeful saying that.

"Change of plans," Kim responded, "Akina, head west and find the hidden IS."

"I'm on it, boss!" Akina ran out of the alley and suddenly deployed fully, floating out of the Louds' range of sight before blasting off into the sky. Not quite out of their range of hearing.

And they all heard a whimper of a rocket blast.

"Did you hear that?" Lucy asked.

"Hear what?" Lana blurted.

"Like a small frantic whisper in the night..."

"I think those tamales demolished your sound mind," Luan grinned and nudged Lucy.

"Still too soon," Lucy shook her head before hearing a small clanking outside, "And now there's that."

"Boy, the wind must be really picking up," Leni thought.

"There's no wind anywhere," Lori said.

But Kim knew better. Someone was on the emergency ladder, and it wasn't Akina or the exam proctors, "Miss Tachibana?"

"Confirmed, two pairs of intruders, one by the lobby, the other entering the Casagrandes floor," Tomoya commed, "We will intercept upstairs. You stay with the Louds."

"Understood," Kim said, attracting the attention of Rita.

"Did you say something?" Rita asked.

"No! Nothing at all!" Kim waved her hands, "Just thinking to myself!"

"You better go, then," Rita responded, "We'll be fine."

"Um...ok," Kim nodded and walked away. She had already thought ahead about how to catch the Louds' attention and warn the intruders. While walking, she scanned the immediate environment and noticed a very light breathing from nearby. She went in that direction and prepared herself to encounter some kind of flying projectile. And sure enough, a collar-type object came flying at her from behind a car.

But instead of dodging it, "Hmph," Kim let it catch her neck and tug her away, allowing her to let out a huge scream and alert the Louds, "Gack-AAAAAGH-"

"What was that?" Leni and Luan were the first to hear it.

"I knew it," Lucy said, "There is someone hear."

"You don't think it's those cats, do you?" Lana quipped.

"It's not cats, dunce!" Lori snapped.

The entire family got tense. They kept silent for a few seconds, listening to the sound of roughhousing and grunting. Then...dead silence.

"Who's there?" Rita whispered.

"Stay back!" Lola held out her tiara like a dagger, "I know how to use this!"

Once again, nothing. No sound.

Lynn Sr stepped out in front, "Come out of your hiding place and we can talk it out. We don't need to escalate this."

Again, nothing. No sound.

Luna pulled out her guitar, "Hey, hombres! Why don'tcha come out and take one like a champ?!"

Again...nothing. No sound. For a couple seconds.

Once those seconds were passed, they were greeted by Kim, who was thrown over the cars and tumbled over to Lori's feet, bound, gagged, and bruised.

"Whoa!" Leni knelt down and tried to undo the binds, "Kim, what happened-AGH!" only to get hit by a tranquilizer dart.

"Leni!" Luan and Lynn Sr tried to wake her up, only to get darted as well.

Then, a voice from behind the cars, "Now, why'd you have to go and ruin the fun like that, huh?"

"That voice!..." Luna growled.

"Oh no..." Lucy seemed to recognize that voice, "Was that Hawk?"

"Not just me, little emo," Hawk stepped outbod the shadows and into the moonlight, along with Juniper, and a pair of dart guns.

Juniper took out a retractable sling rope and eyed Luna very hatefully, "Remember me, queefo?"

"I do," Luna hissed, "You started all this..."

"Now, we're gonna end it!" Lana and Lola screamed.

All the siblings, minus Lily, charged at the lone-standing duo, only to get darted down and roped together in a split second. Kim muffled in horror; she tried to deploy her IS, but the collar prevented her from doing so.

Lynn Sr and Rita knew what kind of situation they were in: they just saw all their daughters get taken down by a couple of thugs. Even if they could call for help, they themselves would be halted mid-call, or worse. But Lily didn't know that; all she knew was that her older sisters were trapped on the ground and she yelled at them to get up and save themselves, and for that she too received a dart. Only, she got one after her father and mother tried to shield her from the initial shots.

"We didn't need Luna in that bundle," Hawk nudged Juniper.

"I know, but it's no fun just separating them right off the bat," Juniper grinned.

"Heh, can't deny that," Hawk grinned sadistically as he stared at Luna's now motionless, tender sleeping face.

Back in the apartment, Carlino was arguing with his immediate family members about his behavior, "Why are you blaming me for this?"

"You couldn't go one minute without bringing that stupid war into this!" CJ griped.

"How many times have I told you to behave yourself, Carlino?!" Frida got onto him, "This is exactly why I didn't want you to participate!"

"But it's true, isn't it?!" Carlino stood firm, "Thanks to that, Ronnie Anne is probably having a mental breakdown-OWOWOWOWOWOW!"

Maria patted his shoulder and sat him down, "That's enough. You've been more than a mouthful this evening. Maybe you should go to sleep."

"What?!" Carlino revolted, "You're just gonna take their side?!"

"Carlino, enough!" Hector snapped, which made Carlino freeze in place, "I think you better go to sleep."

"Fine! See if I care!" Carlino stormed out of the main living room and went back to his bedroom.

He stomped past Ronnie Anne's room, which had an atmosphere of uncertainty and longing, all because of one certain paragraph that Ronnie didn't show anyone, but she kept reading over and over:

...If Bobby and Lori get married, we'll be siblings. We wouldn't be able to date anymore. But maybe that's for the best, as the only reason we met was because of pranks and a punch. And the reason why we kept going on each other was because we didn't know any better, because we didn't think to ask...

"Didn't think to ask?..." She repeated, "What does that even mean?..." because she herself didn't know. All she knew was that something happened to Lincoln to make him throw their relationship into question.

Just then, she heard a knock on her door, "Ah! What the-"

"Relax! Relax, it's just me," it was Carlos.

"¿Papa?" Ronnie Anne sighed, "What're you doing here?"

"Just thought I'd see how you're doing," Carlos said while sitting beside Ronnie, "You left right after the Loud family left."

"Well...it's just..." Ronnie couldn't put it in coherent words, so she went with, "Did you know anyone from middle school?"

"Well, that's an odd thing to ask..." Carlos immediately thought something about her was off, but just ran with it to see where the conversation would lead, "I didn't have any time for relationships back then. I just buried myself in my studies, that's all."

"Oh..." that wasn't the answer Ronnie Anne was hoping for, "So, you didn't have to worry about that kind of stuff."

And from her mood, and her choice of words, Carlos was able to discern the source of her downtrodden behavior, "Did Lincoln doubt you?"

"Huh?!" Ronnie Anne jolted, "I didn't say that! Where the heck did you figure that?!"

"Well, you still have his email in the open," Carlos said.

Ronnie crumpled the paper and threw it away.

"Haha, don't worry," Carlos said, "Your secret's safe with me."

"Are you sure you can keep a secret?" Ronnie asked.

"Hey, nothing that enters my brain leaves it," Carlos quipped.

"Well," Ronnie Anne nodded, "If you say so."

"But I do have to ask," Carlos said, "If you truly did like him, then why did you punch him in the eye that day? Surely you must've known that it would have some kind of repercussions?"

Ronnie Anne gave it a long thought. When he kissed him, she punched him. And even before then, she pulled a ton of pranks on him. But why? She couldn't say that it was because of how she was raised to always fend for herself. She couldn't easily say that Lincoln made her feel tender and loving about him and how that could've opened her up to vulnerability; she knew there was something deeper. She couldn't just say that she pranked him just to try to cover up that weakness, and she definitely couldn't say that she punched him because she flat out mentally shut down for that one instant. There had to be a reason for all of that. There had to be a reason why Lincoln still thought of her even after dropping the ball on her.

And she did start to form a reason, "Well... I always thought that it was-"

But as she was starting to form a coherent thought, she and Carlos heard several loud THUDS nearby.

"What was that?" Ronnie wondered.

"Probably Lalo acting up again," Carlos thought.

At least until they heard their pudgy Mastiff Lalo barking at someone, only to get struck unconscious.

"What about that?..." Ronnie clinched her fists.

"Definitely Lalo," Carlos instinctively reached for his phone, but when he tried to call the police, it showed an error message, "No signal..." he turned to Ronnie Anne, "Mi hija, we're being invaded."

"Yup," Ronnie grabbed a pair of tennis rackets and flew out of the room, and into a spritz of Peter spray, "What the-AAAAAAAAAGH!" Before long, she was on the floor sprawling in pain, "¿QUIÉN HARÍA ESO?"

Suddenly, Janice clocked her from behind, "¡Maldita perra!"

"Ronalda!" Carlos tried to rush to his fallen daughter, but he was stopped by a punch to his gut. He keeled over on all fours before he was uppercutted in the face. His head hit the wall and slid down to the floor, but he was able to get a glimpse of who decked him before he lost consciousness, "Wha...Hank?..."

"And stay down," Hank whispered before Carlos slumped to the floor.

Janice surveyed the ruckus they caused. They snuck in through the emergency window and downed the parents first, then the children, and finally Carlota, who put up the most fight. Even Tomoya and Akane were no match for them, as Hank pulled out an unbelievable amount of gadgets. Now, they all lay in the hallway, along with broken frames and ruined furniture.

"Everything is a-ok," Janice gave Hank a thumbs up.

Hank nodded, "Bind them."

Meanwhile, Akina was flying over the city when she found where the mystery signal was coming from, "Kim. I've located the signal." No response. "Kim? Hello? Anybody?" She was interrupted by an incoming projectile, "Hm?...Tally-ho!" She pulled out her combat knife and sliced the projectile in two, "Sticky web? Oh no..." She descended, touching down on an alleyway and revealing her semi-automatic, "Ok, spiderling! Show yourself!"

Just then, an eerie laughter swept across the alley.

"I'm gonna ask again! Show yourself!" Akina shouted.

"Really?" A female voice boomed, "They sent a fledgling pilot?"

"Fledgling, my ass!" Akina got heated, "I warned you!" And fired at a direction she thought the voice was coming from. The bullets passed by several houses and hit the target square in the head.

"AAAAGH!"

"How'd you like that?!" Akina shouted, "Still think I'm a fledgling?!"

"You little!..." the target jumped high in the sky, "Take this!" and fired several bullets at Akina. Akina pulled out a shield and blocked the bullets while using semi to shoot the target down. But the target shrugged them off and descended hard, and Alina swapped her shield with her knife and tried to strike at the target's underbelly. But the target suddenly sprouted eight legs and pushed Akina aside, knocking her into the wall of another apartment complex.

Akina quickly recovered and flew above the buildings, "Whew...close one..." She then noticed that her target only stood and watched her fly up, "What's the matter?! Got nothing in you?!"

The target looked at Akina, then at her surroundings, and said out loud, "I can't fly."

"Huh?" And with a stroke of horror in her eyes, Akina realized what she had opened herself to.

"So many buildings with so many people...so much collateral damage to wreak onto the people here..." the target sighed.

"You better not!" Akina aimed a rifle at her.

"Oh, I don't have to," the target said, "There's some people that'll do it for me."

"Wha..." Akina gasped, "You mean-OOF!" She got hit with an energy blast and grappled downward into a leg, "OOGH?!"

"Those poor thugs..." the target hissed, "What would ever become of them when I lose?"

"You mean...Hank and Hawk..." Akina grunted, "They're just..."

"Yep. Disposable," the target wistfully said as she threw Akina into a backyard, attracting the attention of the residents.

"What's the big idea?!" Someone shouted.

"Uhhh..." Akina winded, "Just a night out?..."

"Get that hunk of metal off our law-" a neighbor was interrupted by a few energy blasts striking Akina and the building.

"Dude!" Akina screamed, "The hell was that for?!"

"It's your fault for not blocking them," the target just kept at it, putting pressure on Akina to hurry and find an opportunity to counter attack.

Meanwhile, back in Japan, Ichika was having an epiphany. This feeling of oneself and isolation was definitely not new; he just never had time to contemplate that feeling because of the house chores. But now that he was completely by himself, he had the time to reflect on everything that's happened to him this semester, and to his surprise, it wasn't entirely IS related. There was indeed the thought of having to live under the shadow of his more capable sister, but that's been dominated by the thoughts of other girls. Specifically: Houki's tendency to express her feelings physically, not verbally; Cecilia's now discernible, and unrealistic, expectations of her perfect man; and Rin's haphazardly sporadic behavior.

Why are they so attached to him, aside from that X-factor? If he weren't childhood friends with Houki and Rin, what would they think of him? If he didn't try to put up with Cecilia's antics, what would she think of him?

This made him glad he decided to push them off because now he can spend time actually getting to know himself better, starting with his status as an IS pilot.

"Man, oh man," Ichika muttered, "Have I been going about things the wrong way..."

"And what way have you been drifting from?"

Ichika recognized that slightly commandeering voice, "It's nothing, Laura-eh?"

Laura and Charlotte had decided to meet him at the Fuji-san lookout point.

"We heard what you were saying about the other girls," Laura said.

"Only because they came to us and..." Charlotte cupped her forehead, "...unloaded all their frustrations on us."

"Such mental torture is paltry for me," Laura remarked.

"Uh..." Ichika blinked, "did you need anything from me?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," Charlotte turned her gaze to the majestic mountain, "Why did you reject them? Cecilia, I understand, but Rin? And Houki?"

"Is that what they told you?" Ichika said, "I mean, yeah, I said I couldn't get comfortable with anyone, but how would-"

"Oh, Ichika..." Charlotte sighed after hearing that line, "Sometimes, I really do wonder if you do things like that on purpose..."

"What are you talking about?" Ichika asked.

"You mean, you truly don't know?" Laura stepped in, "I suppose not. You must've been gathering intel on the rumors when Mentor revealed a telling tactic."

"Laura?" Charlotte tried to caution her.

"What tactic?" Ichika was quick to catch, "What did my sister tell you?"

"Uh, I wouldn't-" Charlotte was powerless to stop them.

Laura recalled last night's chance conversation with Chifuyu, "I believe she said..."

("If you're a real woman, you've got to be willing to do whatever it takes to nuke your rivals. Get with the program, kiddos. Ok?")

"...something to that effect."

"And now, I have questions about her, too," Ichika reeled.

"Just like that?" Charlotte slumped, "Has your trust in those closest to you dropped like that?"

"I...well, maybe a little..." Ichika admitted, "I think I've started to question why is it that I'm the target of their affections. I mean, there's a ton of other guys, right?"

"Yes, but none of them are IS pilots," Laura said.

"But...what if I wasn't a pilot? What if I never stumbled upon that IS in that chance room? What would they think of me then?"

"Wow..." Charlotte said, "That's a very bold question to ask."

"Is this a form of psychological warfare?" Laura was interested.

"On the plane of emotions, yeah," Ichika nodded, "I was going to lose until I pushed Rin and Houki away from me to recalibrate my thoughts. And the more I tune them, the more I start thinking...why me?"

"Do you know why you?" Charlotte asked.

"Well...no, not yet," Ichika stared at the giant mountain, "but I know I have to figure it out soon if I'm gonna stand on my own two feet."

Charlotte and Laura looked at him for a minute. Then, Charlotte said, "So, you're finally ready to get your mind together?"

"Yep," Ichika nodded, "and there's plenty of things I have to do before I get started in a few...hours."

"It's good that you acknowledge the fact now so you can plan for the future," Charlotte pointed out, "but ultimately pointless when you don't have a foundation."

"I know that... I should probably start by telling the others, yeah?"

"Indeed, you should," Charlotte agreed, "and we will help you break the news."

"We will?" Laura was a bit surprised.

"But, of course," Charlotte took Laura's and Ichika's hands, "After all, there's no telling what some of these girls are capable of."

"What, are you my bodyguards now?"

"I doubt they can put up a fight," Laura retorted.

"Not in their ISs, maybe..."

As the trio walked back to the resort, Chifuyu was in a nearby ramen bar when she noticed an unusually high level of whispering and turned around. She saw Charlotte, Ichika, and Laura walking along the crowded road, and immediately thought that Ichika had finally learned something worthwhile from this trip.

"Bro, whatever you're planning," she muttered, "do it before nightfall." But as she was muttering her thoughts, she caught a ray of sun in her eyes and blinked. When she opened them, she swore she saw silhouettes of Charles, Ichika, and Lincoln, walking side by side, laughing the day away. Seeing that brought up a hidden memory of that one moment when it was just Chifuyu, Ichika, and his twin sister, hanging out in a park picnic, the day before crud hit the fan.

"Ugh...what is happening to me?..." Chifuyu rubbed her eyes and downed another bowl before managing to calm her nerves with a giant gulp of water.

And Maya was right beside her, "It's not like you to get worked up on a trip day."

"It's nothing you haven't seen before," Chifuyu responded.

"So...does that mean you're actually-"

"Don't."

"Heeheeheeee...ok," Maya gave Chifuyu a peace sign, "Just making sure," and then tiptoed away from her sight."

"Hahhhh...what am I gonna do with these brats..." Chifuyu smirked, then turned her eyes to the trio that returned to Charlotte, Ichika, and Laura, "I wonder how my overseas team is doing..."