"What'd Kiriko call you again? Superman? Wonderman?" Cassidy asks.

"Wonderboy," Hirota says. "The translation is actually closer to Miracle Man, but that's semantics."

Cassidy sits down beside him. He settles his metal arm on the countertop of the little outdoor bar beside the pool. "Well, with what you did for Shibuya, it makes sense."

Hirota shrugs. "I think I was more of a monster than a hero."

"We all got skeletons in our closet. Some of us more than others." Cassidy lights a cigar, presses it to his lips. Smoke billows out. "Let's not get bogged down in what you did. What's keeping you up here? Instead of over there." He motions to the other building opposite theirs, a large mansion where the party happens.

"Never was one for parties."

"Heh. Don't feel so bad, kid. Some of us ain't got the spirit for certain things."

"You're not a party person either?"

Cassidy nods. "Much prefer the long quiet of a roadtrip in the desert night."

"Sounds serene."

"It damn-well is." Cassidy adjusts his cigar by shifting his mouth around. It looks rather silly, Hirota thinks. "That celebration is for you, y'know? An orientation party or something like that. They always throw one for every new member of the team."

"If they really need me there, they're free to find me," says Hirota. "Athena knows where I am."

A smooth and robotic female voice echoes sourcelessly within the bar. "Good evening, Hirota and Cassidy."

Cassidy laughs. "Right on queue."

"Yes. It was. Hirota," Athena says. "I believe that Kiriko is outside looking for you."

Hirota focuses. Sounds and sensations expand at once— the low hum of the hanging fluorescent lights, the distant crashing of waves against the sea wall, chatter and discussion, light and quiet brush against the tips of his ears.

"He's not going to show, is he…"

"Battle-brothers and sisters, let us drink to glory and…"

"Siegmund, you really shouldn't be drinking so much…"

Ah-ha.

"Where is he?" Kiriko mumbles.

A single flash of black lightning.

Hirota clears his throat. "Right here."

Kiriko turns to face him. She looks different now. More mature. Experienced. She'd dyed her hair. It is a brilliant ombre green. Kiriko stands on the second floor rooftop of one building that overlooks the eastern sea. A quiet place but still near enough to the party that Hirota still hears them all, laughing and yelling at each other.

The sun has just about set. It hangs above the horizon. Water turns it into a liquid gold band, wrapping around the curved surface of the earth before them.

It reminds them both of home.

Kiriko crosses her arms. Her dark green hair has turned to jade in the setting sunlight. She points back to the lounge. "You should be in there."

"Not really a party person."

She crosses her arms deeper. "Last time we talked, you said you loved parties."

Hirota looks away. "People change."

"They also lie."

"I didn't. Not to you," Hirota murmurs.

Kiriko presses her lips together. She bites back a retort. Instead, she says, "How kind."

"That makes one of us."

Kiriko motions to the lounge. Green hair bobs along with the movement. "Head inside. It's rude not to join."

"I'm sorry." Hirota looks back to the water.

The sun has set, taking the light along with it. Darkness fills the sky; the constellations shimmer. Stars sail on an onyx sea.

"I know. So am I."