It was a stroke of luck that they had even found Six, and for once, it was a good stroke rather than a horrible, life threatening one.

After rushing around the place in an attempt to find the Shoujo, Graham and Mono found themselves attracted to the sound of a gang of people giving chase to something. That something, they realized, were Six and the kid they'd soon learn to be called Seven, conveniently enough, and without stopping, the pair sprinted off to assist the pair.

Though angered by how that other Shonen had so willingly abandoned the Shoujo, Graham mostly ignored it as he burst forth to save Mono's primadonna. He deflated a little when he realized that he wouldn't be able to reach Six in time, however, though as luck would have it, Mono came to his aid, making use of his newfound time stop abilities to buy him a few seconds to get to Six.

"Go get her, Graham!" urged Mono as he held a hand out to freeze The Guests. At first, they only slowed down to half speed, though when the hat loving child made use of both his hands, they froze entirely. The drop of sweat on his forehead told Graham that the Shonen was struggling to keep the time stop up, however, prompting him to simply respond with a nod before leaped over the cravese with such force that the wooden planks beneath his feet broke.

"SHOUJO!" proclaimed Graham as he leapt past the top of Six's head, with him landing in front of her not long after as he pulled both his fists backwards. And, with a decisive swing of both his fists, Graham may or may not have sent The Guests that were chasing Six into the nth dimension.

What a lad.

Thereafter, Graham was quick to scoop a slack jawed Six up into his hands and brought her over to her friend, where he gently set her down in front of an endlessly worried Mono, and for a brief few seconds thereafter, things were silent as the soldier stared down at the Shonen and Shoujo expectantly. The other kid with too much hair atop his head remained passively silent all the while, though Six could feel his judgmental glare burn a hole in the back of her head as he sat behind her.

And at the same time, Seven could feel Graham's sharp gaze bore into the back of his head as he felt a shiver go up his spine, though for now, he remained silent about that fact as he kept his judgemental glare on Six.

The silence was ultimately broken by Mono, to no one's real surprise as he was always the more talkative one between the two of them, with him offering a weak smile as he shakily extended a hand towards Six. The raincoated girl didn't appear to register the gesture until his hand was a few inches away from her face, however and by then, she raised her head up to look at Mono a little.

"Six… I… it's good to-" began Mono, though right as his hand was about to graze Six's cheek, she slapped it away and sprinted off, much to the soldier and once hat loving boy's dismay. Even so, Mono didn't let that deter him as he chased after his friend. Before he gave chase, however, he turned to Graham, who gave him a meaningful nod to show his approval towards the child's actions. Mono returned the gesture almost immediately after before heading off on his way.

And then, there were two…

"You have some explaining to do, Shonen," muttered Graham, with him sounding genuinely upset as he turned to look at Seven. The boy admittedly shrunk down shamefully as he processed the soldier's words, and he flinched a little when he knelt down in front of him, only to calm down a little when he saw the SolbraveCommander soften his gaze… albeit only a little, before he continued. "You left the Shoujo to die. Why?"

Extending a hand towards Seven, Graham had originally intended on placing it atop his shoulder. However, the child was quick to shuffle away from the soldier as he huddled himself in a corner. It took the Solbrave Commander less than a handful of seconds to realize that Seven was afraid of him, prompting him to wince as he quickly held his hands up in a non-aggressive manner.

"Calm yourself, Shonen. I shan't do any harm to you. I swear on my oath as a soldier of the Earth Sphere Federation Army and my pride as a former Flag Fighter," assured Graham as he held a hand up to his heart whilst extending the other towards Seven. The child was definitely skeptical at his words, though he eventually found himself believing Graham as he slowly but surely inched his way out of the corner he was in and extended a hand towards the older person.

"Y-You… promise to not hurt me any more than she did… right?" asked Seven as his fingers almost brushed against the gloved fingers of Graham's. His response was a genuinely shocked expression from the soldier, though he reckoned that he'd ask about why some time later as he closed his eyes, exhaled gently, before reopening them and nodding whilst he offered a small, reassuring smile. One that seemed to brighten Seven's mood, if only by a little, as he responded.

"To harm a child is the coward's way, and I assure you, Shonen, that I am not a coward in any sense of the word. I may have faced humiliation that people could only dream, but I have never stooped so low that I would actively harm those who cannot defend themselves to feel satisfaction!"

Upon hearing that, Seven offered Graham a mild smile as he nodded and glanced at him. As he did so, however, the child remembered just what Aker had requested of him, and at that, he grimaced a little as he looked down at his feet uncertainly, a gesture that the soldier noticed as he spoke up once more.

"There is no need to worry, Shonen. I shan't press the issue if it is too personal. However, know that I am good at keeping confidence. If there is anything you wish to speak of, I will listen and not divulge the information, even under the threat of death," assured Graham gently as he stroked some hair away from Seven's eyes. With the hair out of the way, the child could make direct eye contact with Graham, and his eyes noticeably widened when he saw just how genuine the look Graham gave him was. His gaze held no lies… just the wholesome truth alongside a small amount of fire.

Fire that was controlled, mind you. The fire in his eyes wasn't going to burn The Maw down… yet.

Grimacing a little as he weighed his options, Seven eventually found himself cracking under the pressure as he just… let it all out.

"She… ate me, sir. She would always eat me. She killed me. She killed me multiple times! How… no, why should I help someone who did that to me?" asked Seven, sounding somewhere between timid and defiant as he sat upright and scowled. Graham found that expression rather worrying. The child's anger… it reminded him of his Bushido days… back when he was so consumed by rage and had lost his way…

He had to rectify this Shonen's mistakes, less he walked down the path of vengeance that he once succumbed to…

"Your anger is not unjustified, Shonen. But likewise, it is also misplaced," explained Graham gently as he placed a hand on Seven's shoulder, prompting him to flinch as he glanced up at the soldier. And, for the first time since they first talked, the boy in blue took in the massive scar on the soldier's face, prompting him to gasp as the older man chuckled, noticing the child's interest in his old war wound. "My scar was given to me by a person I once hated as well, but I have long since moved past my hatred."

"But Six-"

"If you know of your death, all your deaths, then surely you know of the time loop, yes?" cut off Graham, and at that, the boy went silent as the soldier got his answer. "It would seem so. Both that Shoujo and his Shonen have been trapped in a cycle, one that was only just broken. Evidently you have also been freed from it as well, and as such, you are confused, scared, but ultimately, you are free.

"I shan't stop you if you wish to continue hating that Shoujo. But please remember; she most likely had little to no urgency in consuming you all those times. The time loop corrupts those in it, or so says a friend of mine. But now, she is free, and she is no longer who she was all those times. Once more, I am not saying that you should outright forgive her, but if you may, please, take that into consideration before you attempt to abandon her once more."

And with that said, Graham stood up and extended a hand towards the child with a gentle smile. Seven appeared apprehensive at first, though he took it after some thought and allowed Aker to pull him up to his feet.

"It is easy to bear grudges, Shonen, but it is difficult to release them. I shan't burden you with the thought, though I do urge you to consider forgiving the Shoujo," added Graham gently as he stared at Seven with kind eyes, eyes that made the child blush a tad. He hasn't been looked at with such a gentle gaze in the past…

"I… I know. Thanks for the pep talk. I… I needed it…" thanked Seven, smiling awkwardly as he eyed Graham. In response, the former Flag Fighter smirked and offered a two fingered salute as he chuckled.

"I always strive to help others in their time of need, Shonen! But regardless of our past mistakes, we must always move forwards. Now come, Shonen, let us follow the others!"

"Seven…"

"Pardon?"

"Seven… it's my name, mister… Graham Aker?"

"Heh. Just Graham will do, Seven."

And to that, Seven simply smiled as he held onto Graham's hand as they followed Mono and Six off to where they ran off to.

Seven liked Graham…

Meanwhile, a short while ago

"SIX! HOLD IT! P-PLEASE SLOW DOWN!"

Six, for the most part, ignored Mono as she sprinted down through the corridor, away from her apparent friend, Seven and that weird scarred guy, with her showing no signs of exhaustion all the while. She has always been a lot more agile than her hat loving friend, after all, and as such, she had little to no issue in outpacing him.

Mono's tone of voice was more than enough to tear the girl apart with guilt as she ran from him. He didn't sound angry like she had imagined he would be, neither did he sound scornful nor scared. No, instead… he sounded hopeful. Happy, even, as though he were glad to see Six…

He had not changed one bit… and for as nice as that was to Six… she found herself hating it.

She wanted Mono to hate her just as she hated herself for everything she's done in the past hundred or so time loops! She was a goddamn monster and she knew it! But nooooooo. Mono was too much of a dense, kindhearted soul that he couldn't even get mad at her for abandoning him several times over! It took him being warped by the Signal Tower to even want to get revenge on her, and even then, he didn't kill her!

Even as the Thin Man, Mono never meant to cause any direct harm to Six, and she hated that!

"Six, SIX! PLEASE STOP!" urged Mono once more. As per usual, Six did no such thing as she kept her pace, though she did at least respond to his pleas as she turned to offer a sideways glare at him, causing the boy to flinch as he slowed down a little.

"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE, MONO!" proclaimed Six urgently as she felt herself weakening at a drastic rate. As one would expect, however, Mono did no such thing as he kept at it, with him sprinting harder all the while. The kid was always tenacious, Six would give him that, though for once she didn't think it was a good thing.

"No, never! I WON'T STOP UNTIL I'M BY YOUR SIDE AGAIN! NOT AFTER WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME!" affirmed Mono, with his tenacity shining through yet again as Six grimaced and attempted to speed herself up, though she was getting noticeably winded as she did so, prompting her to slow her pace a tad as Mono smiled victoriously and quickened his pace.

And then… it happened once more.

There was a loud growl, and in an instant, Six felt herself weakening as she abruptly came to a sudden stop. It was so abrupt that she ended up falling to the ground and skidding to a halt, much to Mono's shock as he gasped out loud and quickened his pace for a third time in a row, though even in her weakened state, Six was still compelled to get away from her 'friend' as she began to weakly crawl away from him.

"Six?! Are you alright?!" asked Mono worriedly as he skidded to a halt so fast that he nearly flew past Six and crashed into a nearby sliding door. By some unseen miracle, however, he managed to avoid that outcome as he crouched down beside his friend and placed a hand on her shoulder, a hand that was promptly shoved off as Six pushed Mono onto his back. "S-Six?"

"Get… a… way!" urged Six as her stomach growled much louder, with Mono himself realising what was happening as he watched his raincoated friend hold her stomach in pain. She didn't seem to be able to move any further at this point due to a sudden hunger pain, and without a second thought, the hat loving boy looked around for something to help with the situation.

From behind a partially opened sliding door that he had almost crashed through, a small, triangle headed creature waved at Mono enthusiastically. At first, the child appeared surprised by its appearance, though he quickly ignored it when he saw the creature disappear into the room and reappear with a sausage in its hands, prompting Mono to smile as he approached it swiftly. He prayed that it wouldn't just run off thanks to his swift approach, though thankfully enough, it remained as it was, allowing him to grab onto the sausage.

"Thank you! Thank you very much!" thanked Mono wholeheartedly as the strange creature… the Nome, nodded and scurried off. The hat loving boy found himself surprised at how quickly the Nome had run off and squeezed itself into a small crack in the wall, though he quickly dismissed it as he swiftly rushed to his friend's side and offered her the sausage. "Six! Food! It's for you!"

"Food…" muttered Six as she raised her head up to look Mono in the eye. Glancing between the sausage and her… friend, Six found her mouth watering as she wondered what she should do…

The hunger was a terrible force, after all. A strange magic that plagued the entirety of The Maw, it compelled those under its control to consume all that they saw. Well, things that were edible in some way, of course, emphasis on 'some way'. Meat, vegetables (uncommon but still there, the unhealthy fucks) and even children were on the menu. The hunger never discriminated between what gave those under its command some extra fat. As long as they were fed and could continue the cycle, things would be alright.

And evidently enough, it was affecting Six right now, as she was currently seeing Mono as her next meal. Her gaze was fixed on the poor child as he held the sausage up to her worriedly, and her mouth began to water as she thought of him as a massive slab of steak. She wanted to sink her teeth into him and tear a chunk out…

"S-Six…?"

But Mono was her friend, right…? She had already hurt him so much… to eat him… it would only add onto her list of sins, and he couldn't come back anymore due to the time loop's destruction…

"C-C'mon, your tummy… it… it's very loud…"

Still though… he did look like quite a good steak…

"Don't make me feed you…"

The hunger wanted her to eat him particularly. It told her that it'd give her more calories to survive what was to come, and though it was tempting…

"Six…?"

Yeah, she couldn't do it. Even if it was between her digesting herself or eating him, she could never choose the latter option…

And so, she lunged forward onto him-

Reunited! Wooooooo!

Also I know that I said I won't respond to reviews because this story is basically an overly long joke, but I'll quickly say that the kids will remain small and tiny forever because it's cute!