While Basara and Mio were bringing Anna to at Chisato's apartment, the Nonaka sisters were out. Currently, they were both sitting on a bench taking a rest.

"Ouch. Sorry for giving you trouble, onee."

"Don't mind it."

Kurumi had a sprained ankle and because of that her eyes were tearing up, like a child. Of course, Kurumi wasn't really bothered by the sprained ankle, but it still stung and that's what made her eyes tear up.

What had actually happened with them went as follows:

Kurumi had woken up seeming fine, but once she saw Chisato, she remembered what had happened the previous night. Kurumi had never felt so betrayed, so, once she finished taking care of herself, she started packing her things.

Yuki noticed what her sister was doing, but, instead of doing the same, she tried to get Kurumi to calm down. Kurumi didn't understand why she was doing that, so she ran out of Chisato's apartment and Yuki followed after her.

But, during all that, Kurumi ended up falling down and that's how she got her knee sprained. Yuki caught up and took her to sit down at a bench. Now that Kurumi had calmed down, she could have a proper conversation with Yuki.

"Still, I can't believe Basara onii-chan… why did he…?"

Kurumi felt like there was a big hole in her heart. She never imagined Basara would hide something like that from her and the others. Even though she knew it was true, at the back of her mind, Kurumi wished it was all a big joke. She didn't know what to do with all those feelings inside her right now.

But then, Kurumi noticed something on her sister. Or rather the lack of something.

"Onee, shouldn't your curse be active right now? You can't say you don't feel anything towards what happened last night."

Just as Kurumi pointed out, Yuki's curse was not active. In fact, she seemed perfectly fine.

"Of course I can't say I don't feel anything. I also didn't expect that and it really hurt me, but I also want to hear Basara's side of things. When we see each other next, I want to talk."

"What? Why would you want to do that?"

"Remember when me, you and Takashi fought Basara, Mio and Maria?"

Kurumi nodded. There was no way she could forget that. Looking back, it could be considered the starting point of many of the things they have now.

"Back then, I betrayed Basara, I left his side to team up with you and Takashi. I was following orders and ended up turning back in the end, but I still did it. It's a different situation from now, but back then Basara tried to understand my side of things, so I think it's only fair to do at least that much for him now."

"…" Kurumi was silent, she didn't know how to respond, but Yuki continued.

"But not just that, I want to hear him because I love him. He said he felt the same, and I don't want to believe he was just lying to all of us. So, I know how you feel, Kurumi, and I also feel the same, but I also meant what I said. I want to hear Basara and only then think about what to do from now on."

Yuki's words did strike Kurumi's heart. Of course, it wasn't something simple to decide, so Kurumi would need some time to sort through her thoughts. Should she try to forgive Basara or not? That's not something to be answered with the brain, but rather with the heart.

But she wouldn't have time to think right now. That's because both sisters felt presences they had felt recently. Yuki was quickly able to find the sources.

"They're back. What could they want now?"

The same twins that attacked and burned down the Toujou household just the other day were back. They didn't seem to have noticed Yuki and Kurumi, and from how they were walking, it's likely they planned to head somewhere for some reason.

"Should we fight, onee?"

"No, there's still too much we don't know, and we're in the middle of the city. They managed to escape from Celis and Basara, so this could be a good chance. Cast some magic on us, we're going to follow them for a little bit."

Kurumi nodded. She then cast some magic to make them invisible and get rid of their presences. The sisters then started tailing the brothers.

/

Not long after Anna woke up, Zest arrived at Chisato's apartment. She was carrying some bags with groceries, it seemed like she took upon herself to resupply what everyone would need.

Maria helped Zest put stuff in place. Chisato was busy analyzing Anna's current state. Basara thought about helping Zest, but Mio and Celis convinced him to wait for a better time to try and talk with her.

And so Basara waited. While Zest and Maria were organizing their supplies, Zest's body trembled visibly every now and then and she even dropped some stuff on the ground while trying to put things on their place.

Maria convinced Zest to go take a rest in the bedroom for a little bit. After waiting for a little bit without Zest seeming to get better, Maria had an idea.

"Basara-san, could you go in and talk with Zest a bit? I have a hunch about what's wrong with her, but I need you to talk with her first."

"If you think it's fine, then I'll go."

Although he was almost sure he was the source of the problem, Basara decided to bet on Maria's guess and tried talking with Zest.

"Hey, Zest, are you feeling fine?"

"Basara-sama… yes, I'm just a bit tired. I had trouble sleeping last night."

While tiredness could explain Zest's behavior and it wasn't hard to imagine what had kept her up last night, Basara thought he caught a glimpse of something.

He approached her and slightly rose her chin to expose her neck. It didn't take long for him to confirm his suspicions.

"So the curse activated. Since when?"

Zest didn't answer, but it wasn't hard to guess that it must have been around the time she learned about Chisato. For her to have been enduring this all this time, Basara really did feel like punching himself now for having put her through this.

"I'm sorry, Basara-sama. I didn't want to bother you, but if you're willing to relief me…"

Zest started taking off her clothes. Certainly, if the master made the servant submit, the curse would fade out, which is certainly something Basara wants, and Basara is more than experienced at making his servants submit at this point.

But, Basara stopped Zest. He didn't feel like it was right to do that with her right now. It's not that he didn't like her, but he felt it would be like taking advantage of her condition. Instead, although he had never tried it before, if he got rid of what had brought up the curse in the first place, shouldn't the curse stop? Basara felt he should at least try that before going the usual route.

"Zest, tell me what's wrong. No, actually, I already know what it is, but I still want to hear it from you. That way, I might be able to find a way to fix everything."

"Basara-sama… it's nothing. I was just a bit chocked to have heard about your relationship with Chisato, so that's likely what activated the curse. A servant shouldn't meddle in the master's affairs, so this is none of my concern."

Zest started taking off the top part of her clothes. She was sweating, likely due to the curse, which made her brown skin shine and look really seductive. But Basara wasn't so weak willed he'd give in with just that.

"Zest, please. Even if it's the right thing to do as a master, I don't feel like it's the right thing to do as a man who has feelings for you. Talk to me, and if that doesn't work, then I'll make you submit to dispel the curse, but tell me what you're feeling first. I don't want to just get rid of the curse and pretend everything's fine, I really want to make everything fine again."

Zest saw the determination in Basara's eyes. She realized that it was just a waste of time to keep insisting.

She covered her chest, and began talking.

"Back when I was still Zolgear's servant, I thought that all a servant had to do was obey their master's will. When I became Basara-sama's servant, I thought that I had previously been wrong, that our roles as master and servant were mere formalities, that we were actually family. But last night, it was like I was told that I was right from the start, that I had overstepped my boundaries by thinking I was more than a servant. I believe that's the cause for the curse's activation."

Zest's previous master, Zolgear, didn't treat her as more than a servant, and for a long time, that was the only world Zest knew. After joining Basara and the others, Zest finally learned what was trust and got to make bonds with people. Although it was never his intention, Basara ended up breaking both of those, which forced Zest back to how she was when she was with Zolgear: no more than a servant.

Now understanding the root of the problem, Basara put his hand over Zest's. He strengthened his grip and let her feel his warmth as he started talking.

"I'm the one who should apologize. I don't know about a servant's role or whatever, but I know one thing: I do think of you as family, Zest, and I'm sorry to have broken the trust you had in me. My feelings for you, and the others as well, weren't lies, so, if you're willing to listen, I want to try to gain your trust once more."

"Gain my trust? But I'm just your servant, Basara-sama. I'll always serve you, Basara-sama, so you don't have to-"

"Like I told you, I do think of you as family, as someone special, someone who I want to make smile, someone who will get mad at me if I do something bad. I don't want you to be just a servant, I want to earn back the trust you had in me before, or at least as much of it as I can. So please, let me try."

Zest saw that Basara wasn't lying. She wanted things to go back to how they were, but the past can't be erased.

But it's not like it has to be a lie either. Just because something bad happened between two people, it's not like they have to hate each other.

Zest tightly hugged Basara. She pressed her chest on his as much as she could, to the point they could feel each other's heartbeats.

"Basara-sama, I love you. Even now, this feeling inside me hasn't disappeared."

"Zest… I also love you. I'm sorry about what I did, but I promise to make up for it."

Basara hugged Zest back. They stayed like that for a few seconds, just feeling each other in their arms.

Basara was the first one to speak.

"Zest, do you want me to explain how things became like this? Or do you want to see my memories? Maria said she could do something like that, and I showed them to Mio, so it's fine if you want to see them."

"No, I don't need something like that. Rather, to trust Basara-sama again, I want to confirm your feelings through a kiss."

While it wasn't what Basara expected, it was definitely possible. Just as Zest had asked, Basara gave her a kiss with all his feelings invested in it.

The kiss lasted for a good dozen seconds. Even if it was just a kiss, it carried enough power to dispel Zest's curse through dispelling the doubt in her heart, though they still continued until they were out of breath.

"Basara-sama, I trust you, I believe in your feelings."

Right after saying that, Zest fell asleep. With everything that had happened, it wasn't strange for her to be tired. Basara gave her one more kiss as he told her to rest well.

Not long after Basara came out of the room, a message arrived in his phone. Basara checked it and a serious expression showed in his face.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

Basara quickly prepared himself and headed straight for the sender's location as fast as he could.