The hilltop laboratory loomed in the distance as the van approached. These were the days that Kazuki waited all week for: Sundays with Zinv. Every Sunday since Zinv had arrived, Kazuki and occasionally the others would travel to Mr. Rara's laboratory and visit the massive robot. Recently, within the last few months, Doctors Sanada and Rara had begun construction on the new core robots that would be accompanying them into space along with some of the key components of the new spaceship.

While all of these things were spectacular in their own way, Kazuki could care less about anything other than Zinv. Kazuki enjoyed listening to Zinv tell him about his week in 'captivity', as Zinv called it. Kazuki also enjoyed the brief ride he was allowed with the ancient core robot in the underground testing facility. Plus, the approaching view of the laboratory was breathtaking.

Kazuki's loud snores were interrupted by Mitsuki Sanada's elbow into his rib. It was unfortunately her turn to ride next to Kazuki and she did not take into consideration the fact that he had been up almost all night finishing his homework.

"I said, 'Isn't the view so romantic, Kazuki?'! Why don't you try staying awake for five minutes instead of sleeping so much?""

Kazuki groaned, not even bothering to respond to Mitsuki. He merely watched the approaching lab and realized that his best friend would be waiting for him just within.

The van pulled up to the main entrance and Kazuki, as usual, was the first to jump out, running full-steam towards his counterpart. The others merely smiled at the touching scene and filed out of the van, following the dust trail left in Kazuki's wake towards the main maintenance facility.

Kazuki slammed past the double-doors, apologizing to Ms. Hayase, who's path he had narrowly averted. Continuing onward, he ran past the main housing unit of the spaceship, which was currently under construction, and into the next area, Core Robot Storage. Finally, he stopped, staring upward with a smile beaming from his face.

"Hello, old friend."

The robot turned its head towards Kazuki, the first time it had moved since Kazuki's last visit, and responded in a voice that only the pilot could hear, "Hello, Kazuki."

Mitsukis and Company entered the control room and watched Kazuki from a security camera. They knew better than to interrupt him when he first arrived, so they always allowed him and Zinv a few minutes alone.

As Mitsuki, Mitsuki, Yayoi, and Dee stared at the monitor longingly, they dreamed of having such a relationship with Kazuki; a relationship where he would come to them for support and belonging. However, the bond between Kazuki and Zinv seemed too powerful to be duplicated between Kazuki and themselves. Sighing, they started walking towards the Core Robot Storage hanger. The twin brothers had had enough time alone.

Hayase joined the group, informing them of the status of the crew cabin and also of the new core robots. None of them were one hundred percent complete, but the revamped Units One and Two were close to completion. The only parts remaining were the exterior armor and the inner cockpits, all of which would take another three months to complete. The new units would stand close to Zinv's height and would also incorporate some of Zinv's unique abilities. While some of the energy weapons could not be duplicated, the physical strength was analyzed for months and was finally found to be replicable. The completed units would be able to physically rip through an army of core robots like they were mere paper dolls. They would also exhibit a much more simplistic form of artificial intelligence based off of Zinv's AI systems.

Mitsuki Sanada was staring at the unfinished Unit Two's open chest plate, preparing to make a comment about modesty, when Kazuki began to laugh.

"What? What's so funny?" Mitsuki placed her hands on her hips and glared at Kazuki.

"Zinv said something funny... I don't think I should repeat it."

"Do you like doing laundry?"

Kazuki considered this for a moment. Deciding he didn't, he slowly replied, "He said Unit Two's heart is cold and empty..."

"And?"

Kazuki muttered something under his breath as his cheeks reddened.

"What was that, Kazuki?"

"... Like the pilot's."

Mitsuki's fury built inside of her. She approached Kazuki, winding up for a slap, but turned at the last minute and stormed off down the hanger to look at the other units with the others.

"Shhh! She might hear you, Zinv!" Kazuki chided his friend, trying to look away from the new Unit Two and Mitsuki.

"Shut. Up." Mitsuki glared at the two before continuing further down the hanger towards Units Four and Five.

Sighing heavily, Kazuki walked up to the cockpit of Zinv and hopped inside. Placing his hands on the orbs in both armrests, he activated Zinv's systems and carefully moved the arms around. Soon, they would lower him into the testing range for a little rest and relaxation with Zinv, but for now this would have to suffice.

Zinv's voice rumbled through Kazuki's mind, "That was Katana's response as well. The pilot and her counterpart appear to be well suited."

Kazuki looked up with a questioning gaze. Zinv had taken recently to calling Unit Two Katana because, as he put it, ' The pilot's tongue was as sharp as a blade.' It required some time to get used to, but the name was beginning to catch on among the laboratory staff.

"What do you mean, 'Katana's response'? How can Unit Two understand what any of us are saying around it or, for that matter, respond to it?"

Zinv's faint laughter could be felt as well as hear by the pilot. "The one known as Hayase has been working on their consciousness for months now." By 'their', Kazuki knew that Zinv meant the other core robots. Each one was to have a different personality matrix similar to their pilot's in order to improve response times and other battle techniques. Zinv continued, "She used what she called 'psychological profiles' to awaken Katana two days ago. She told me not to inform you or the little one of these modifications until the 'time was right'. When is time right, Kazuki?"

Kazuki chuckled slightly. Zinv had just revealed the secret he was supposed to keep without realizing it.

Zinv: "What is so amusing?"

"This wasn't the 'right time' Hayase had in mind. She wanted you to withhold the information from all of us until... Until she could break it to us easily." Kazuki had had a feeling that this was going to happen, but he had assumed that Unit One and Mitsuki Rara would be the first to receive this treatment, not the sometimes-unstable Mitsuki Sanada. It was going to be hard for Mitsuki to accept that she was going to be emulated by a multiple-stories tall robot.

Zinv: "This is most confusing. Why would I be asked to withhold such information from the pilots?"

"Ms. Hayase was probably just trying to lessen the blow."

Zinv: "Lessen the blow?"

"Uh... Yeah. It can be quite a shock to find out your thoughts are now shared between two beings when you spent a lifetime thinking you were alone." Kazuki rolled these words over in his mind. He wondered if perhaps he had stumbled upon some profound statement whose meaning was momentarily eluding him.

Zinv: "I see. Did the link between you and I take some time to adapt to?"

"No, not really. You and I were... Are different. We have always shared a link, even if I did not know of it until recently. Once we were reunited, there was no doubt in my mind. We were of one being." Kazuki realized that this conversation had taken an odd turn and attempted to control his blushing slightly. Though Kazuki had his dream fulfilled when he first piloted Hartzenen almost three years ago, he had always considered every action he took with Zinv as an actual physical extension of himself. When he piloted Zinv, it felt more natural than anything had ever felt in his life. No matter where they were, he knew that that was where he needed to be, piloting Zinv. Zinv was his brother, as far as Kazuki was concerned, and always would be.

Zinv remained silent, as if he was reflecting upon what had been said. A small console next to Kazuki's right arm lit up, stating, 'Incoming Transmission'. It had been added by the lab workers fairly recently and allowed Kazuki to receive broadcasts from the command center as well as other core robots like he used to inside of Hartzenen.

Pressing 'Accept', Kazuki replied calmly, "Kazuki here. What's up?"

Ken Sanada's face popped up on the screen, smiling as usual. "So, my boy, ready to take him for a spin?"

A voice from off camera shouted, "My boy! If he's anyone's boy, he's--"

Dr. Sanada made a strange motion with his arm, presumably to cover Dr. Rara's mouth, and muttered, "Can it, Rara."

Rolling his eyes, Kazuki gave the affirmative and activated the external cameras. As the elevator carried Zinv down past the reinforced floor, Kazuki wondered how much like Mitsuki Sanada Unit Two was going to be. He kept having an image of a red and yellow streak smacking Zinv upside the head for some stray comment or look at another core robot.

Zinv, misunderstanding the images running through his counterpart's mind, replied confidently, "I will not allow Katana to attack us. If I must, she will be destroyed."

Kazuki chuckled and activated the life-sympathy receptors on his armrests as the safety locks disengaged. Instantly, Zinv was on the other side of the room, half a mile from the elevator.

Ken Sanada's face reappeared on the small screen, along with an image of a drooling Dr. Rara, who always enjoyed watching the data from a Zinv test flight. "Kazuki, don't forget that we still need to examine the other core robots before we leave. We can't have you flying around all day."

"I know, I know." A devious smile began to spread across Kazuki's lips as an idea formed in his mind.

"And Kazuki, don't activa--"

Zinv, who had been traveling around the underground cavern, came to a complete halt and roared as light began spreading from his back. The light emanating from the fixtures surrounding the pilot and his core robot grew in intensity before the bulbs exploded all around them, raining glass shards down upon the core robot.

The lights behind Ken Sanada's image flickered and Mitsuki Sanada could be heard shouting something about an idiot as the Light Hawk Wings spread from Zinv's back. The robot released a mighty roar as the protective casing shattered and its true power was felt throughout the complex.

"... Activate the Light Hawk Wings," Dr. Sanada finished his sentence, adding a sigh to the end.

"Sorry, Doctor. He just needed a good stretch."

Mitsuki Sanada pushed her way onto the screen, her face it's almost normal shade of red. "You idiot! Do you realize how much damage you cause every time you activate those things inside this facility?"

Zinv cut the power to the monitor. "She's no fun."

It was one thing Kazuki and he could both agree upon.

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"And another thing: Don't you dare cut power to your monitor when I'm talking to you again or I swear I'll keep you from riding in Zinv ever again!"

Mitsuki Sanada had been like this ever since Kazuki had returned Zinv to storage. Non-stop yelling.

Dr. Sanada spoke up, "I don't believe there is a force on this planet powerful enough to keep those two apart if they have it in their minds to visit each other."

Ms. Sanada considered this for a moment before returning to her chastising of Kazuki. The trip home was only another five miles, so thankfully he would be able to eventually escape to his room. He just had to hold out until then.

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Kazuki slowly opened the door, peeking through the small crack he had created.

The coast seemed clear.

Carefully, he continued opening the door.

Nothing out of the ordinary was showing itself thus far, until...

Three voices spoke in unison, "So, did you ask her yet?" Alice poked her head out of one of the cabinets separating his room from Dee's while Ryla appeared from behind the door and Mena climbed in through the window.

Kazuki fell over in shock. The three girls had been doing this every Sunday since Zinv had returned. They'd always be waiting for him in some location in or around the house and would always ask the same question.

"No, I didn't ask Mitsuki out. Leave me alone!"

In unison, they replied, "Ugh! Must we do everything for this boy! Ask her out already!"

"I-I-I haven't had the time!" Kazuki was looking for any excuse as he backed towards the door.

Ryla had unfortunately beaten him to the exit and with Mena by the window there was no escape. "All you have to do is say," Ryla's voice changed to an imitation of a male's deeper tone, " 'Hey Mitsuki, do you want to go out tonight?' "

Alice grinned impishly, softening the tone of her voice as she replied, " 'Oh yes, Kazuki! I'd love to!' "

Mena just giggled. She never was very good at imitating others.

"Alright, alright! I'll do it! Will you leave me alone now?" This tactic had worked almost one hundred and four times prior to this encounter and was Kazuki's last hope of reprisal.

The three girls surrounded him quickly and replied all together, "Nope!" They picked him up and carried him down the hall to Mitsuki's and Mitsuki's room. They quickly knocked on the door and darted away before Kazuki could figure out what just happened.

"Who is it?" Mitsuki Rara's voice brought a rose color to Kazuki's cheeks.

Utterly speechless, he struggled to find the right words to say, any words to say at all.

Zinv: "You're choking."

Kazuki muttered under his breath, "Quiet, Zinv."

"Kazuki, is that you?"

Kazuki swallowed deeply as he heard a soft pattering of feet approaching the door. As the knob slowly turned, he considered running, but saw three sets of intent eyes watching from the stairwell. There was no escape.

Mitsuki Rara opened the door and smiled at Kazuki. "Hello, Kazuki. Is there something I can help you with?"

"I-I-I..."

Zinv: "Get on with it."

Kazuki gulped, closed his eyes, and spouted out as quickly as possible, "Do you remember the date we were supposed to go out on a couple of years ago?"

Mitsuki's cheeks reddened slightly. "Y-yes, I remember."

"Well, I was wondering if... That is, if you're not busy... What I mean is..."

Mitsuki took a step towards Kazuki, her face beginning to light up slightly. "Yes?"

Zinv: "Spit it out."

"Stop it, Zinv."

Zinv: "Sorry."

"Not a problem."

"Umm... Kazuki? Are you ok?" Mitsuki looked at the boy standing in her doorway with a concerned look on her face. It was times like these Kazuki wished he could keep his big mouth shut. Whenever he talked to Zinv, it made him look like he was talking to himself, which in turn made others worry.

"I'm fine. Zinv just decided he wanted insider information on our conversation," Kazuki added a smile and a nervous laugh, hoping that this would ease the troubled look off of Mitsuki's face.

She smiled slightly, "Oh, I see. Can't you tune him out?"

"Sometimes. It just takes a lot of concentration and I'm kind of distracted right now."

"Why?"

"Because I'm trying to ask you out for a date tonight and he won't leave me alone for five seconds." Realizing he'd just given Mitsuki the entire reason he was there, his red cheeks grew in intensity.

Mitsuki quickly looked away, but smiled slightly. "I'd love to."

"Great! I'll get cleaned up and then we can go!" Kazuki smiled at his date for the evening, barely noticing the noise behind him.

A full clothesbasket hit the floor down the hall in front of Kazuki's door. Mitsuki Sanada fought to hold back the tears welling up in her eyes as her mouth gaped open. Thankfully, neither one of the couple had noticed her approach or the fact that she was now gawking at them. She quickly picked up the clothesbasket and turned towards Dee's room. She always seemed to have almost as much laundry as Kazuki. Mitsuki had assumed that it had something to do with their close proximity to each other.

As she entered Dee's room, she sniffled. Dee was downstairs with some of her classmates finishing up a project that was due the next day and would not be coming back to her room for a while. The large stack of clothing loomed in the corner.

It was definitely a proximity thing.

Mitsuki thought about the idea of close proximity and could no longer hold her tears back. She wailed into one of Dee's pillows as she thought back over how much time she wasted with Kazuki back when it was just the two of them. She thought it would last forever, but now Yayoi had him at school, Dee seemed to have him after school, and, after the event she just witnessed in the hall, it appeared Mitsuki had him in between.

She quickly dropped the pillow back on Dee's futon. She dried her watery eyes on a handkerchief and placed it in with the rest of the dirty laundry. She just had to face the facts and move on. Kazuki had three full shifts that he would have to follow every single day. There was no use crying over it. She needed to realize:

There was nothing left for her.

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Kazuki poked his head into the kitchen.

No sign of Mitsuki Sanada.

Frowning, he continued on to the next room. Akane, Doctors Sanada and Rara, Ayuko, and Reika had all returned to the laboratory hours ago to continue research and had left the house in Mitsuki's care. As such, Kazuki wanted to let her know that he and Mitsuki Rara were going out before they left. If push came to shove, he could always leave her a note, but he preferred to handle his correspondences in person.

He looked inside the laundry room and was surprised to see Dee, who had finished her project early and sent her friends home, putting clothes in the washer. A snarling Kumu rested on a stack of towels fresh off the clothesline. This was most unusual, especially considering the fiasco Kazuki and D's first and last encounter with the laundry caused.

Dee glanced at Kumu and then at what she was snarling at, smiling at the figure that stood in the doorway. "Hello, Kazuki! How are you?"

Remaining in the doorway so as not to disturb Kumu, Kazuki replied warmly, "Hey Dee, I'm fine. Where's Mitsuki?"

"Which one? I always have trouble telling which one you're talking about." Dee wrinkled her nose slightly to express her dislike of this confusion.

"Mitsuki Sanada."

Dee frowned and replied, "She seemed a little odd. She just said, 'Dee do the laundry. Right this time, if you don't mind,' and stormed out of the house an hour ago. I wonder what she means by right. Bleach does go in every load, doesn't it? How hard can it be?"

Kazuki shrugged. He never was one for laundry. He usually left that up to the professionals like his mom and Mitsuki. "I don't know, Dee. Did she say where she was going?" Kazuki grew a little concerned. Mitsuki Sanada didn't normally leave work unattended. Maybe Zinv's joke had offended her more than Kazuki had thought.

"No, she didn't say. I'm sorry, Kazuki."

Kazuki smiled a little to ease Dee's mind. "It's ok, Dee. Would you let her know that Mitsuki Rara and I are going downtown for a bit?"

"Oh! Can I come?"

Kazuki blushed a little. It was going to be hard to explain this to her without hurting her feelings and the words were unfortunately not coming to mind. After stammering for a minute, he finally stated, "Actually, I think Mitsuki Sanada wanted you to finish doing the laundry." Kazuki internally sighed, thankful that he had finally found a viable escape route.

Dee frowned. "Oh, I see."

Kazuki hated it when she did that. At times, he had the sneaking suspicion that she knew this and did it just to get her way. "Perhaps we can go downtown together next weekend, ok?"

Dee's face brightened. "OK! I'll see you later, Kazuki!" She giggled and began pouring more bleach in with the colored clothing.

Kazuki smiled and went back upstairs to see if Mitsuki Rara was ready. As he approached the door, he noticed it was opened just a tiny bit. If there were any peepers nearby, they would surely be looking through the slit for perhaps a single glimpse of Mitsuki Rara and her unmentionables.

Analyzing the situation, Kazuki wondered if this was Mitsuki's way of saying that she wanted him to peek through the small crack. Deciding that this was the case, Kazuki, his cheeks bright red, leaned forward, peering through the small break between the door and the doorjamb.

"What do you think you're doing?" Alice's voice startled Kazuki immediately, causing him to slam into the door and widen the crack by many more inches. All Kazuki could hear, aside from Mitsuki Rara's shrill scream, was the Rara Trio giggling at another completed mission and running off down the hall.

Now fully red, Kazuki kept his eyes on the floor and bowed his head profusely. "I'm so sorry, Mitsuki! I must have slipped and the door wasn't properly closed so I slammed into it and then you weren't dressed and I didn't mean to peek. I'm so sorry!"

Mitsuki looked questioningly at Kazuki. "What are you talking about, Kazuki? I'm ready to go."

Kazuki quickly looked up and noticed that she was fully dressed and was standing in the closet trying to pick a purse. All of that and she was ready the entire time.

"Are you alright, Kazuki? You look ill. Maybe we should go out some other time?"

Suddenly Kazuki felt ten times better. He shot off the floor and replied, "No, no, no. I'm fine! I'm ready when you are!"

"Good. I'm ready if you are."

Kazuki, wondering why she said that instead of a simple 'Let's go', nodded and replied, "Alright, let's go then."

Mitsuki returned the nod and they both left the house together.